Entity workspace: an evidence file that aids memory, inference, and reading

• IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI 2006)

An intelligence analyst often needs to keep track of more facts than can be held in human memory. As a result, analysts use a notebook or evidence file to record facts learned so far. In practice, the evidence file is often an electronic document into which text snippets and hand-typed notes are placed. While this kind of evidence file is easy to read and edit, it provides little help for making sense of the captured information. We describe Entity Workspace, a tool designed to be used in place of a traditional evidence file. Entity Workspace combines user interface and entity extraction technologies to build up an explicit model of important entities (people, places, organizations, phone numbers, etc.) and their relationships. Using this model, it helps the analyst find and re-find facts rapidly, notice connections between entities, and identify good documents and entities to explore next.

citation

Bier, E. A. ; Ishak, E. W.; Chi, E. H. Entity workspace: an evidence file that aids memory, inference, and reading. IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI 2006); 2006 May 22-24; San Diego; CA. Berlin: Springer Verlag; 2006; LNCS 3975: 466-472.