Warning Analysis for the Information Age - Higgins Counterterrorism ...

Input = (1) Analyst Input of METATEXT records: (a) reformatted from SHOE-BOX DB by analyst, or (b) input from already METATAGGED DBs (such as thePubMed online biomedical DB).(2) Analyst feedback to adjust visual or network displays.Processing = (1) METATEXT data mining (with data mining tools for tabulardata).(2) MDA Chart presentation (such as by Analyst Notebook)Output = Presentation of: (1) text or visual displays of data mining(2) MDA chart displays (with hyperlinks to DATACOLLECTION DB for original report with highlighted markups).Analysts view the presented graphs, networks, and the like from the ENTITYDB and:■ Analyze: Analyst evaluates data outputs provided by (1) METATEXTdata mining tools or (2) MDA chart presentations or (3) link analysisdirectly from documents in the shoebox.■ Marshal Evidence: Analyst builds MDA models using maps, timelines,and organization charts, and builds HYPERTEXT documentsfor input to PRESENTATION DB.[Note that since this is all-source analysis at this point, collection analysts atNSA, NIMA, and FBIS should ideally not be expected to do this level of analysis;however, since current collaboration tools are not adequate, the collectionanalysts must do this to be able to perform the SIGINT, IMINT, or OSINT collectiontask properly].[The ENTITY DB will potentially prove to be the most valuable analytical DBin the future, but currently constitutes a huge gap in the IC’s repertoire of ITtools. A shared ENTITY DB would be the equivalent of a shared electronic 3x5card deck. Imagine if a historian were writing a new book on the Civil War and,instead of having just the library for references, could have access to an electronicversion of the 3x5 card note decks of Bruce Catton and a dozen other Civil Warhistorians, complete with original references on each. The value added would beimmense, not only in tracing hypotheses supported by Catton’s books but also intesting hypotheses he may have had and discarded (but kept the cards for futurereference) and in testing completely new hypotheses not covered in the linearthreads reported in the narratives of his books. However, as Catton’s 3x5 carddeck might have actually been a pile of highlighted copies of documents andhandwritten records, the cost of transferring these documents to electronic format144