VICTOR   DATABASE  
OF
OPEN-SOURCE  DATABASES

BACKGROUND: "Over time, and after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created by the National Security Act of 1947, the responsibility for open source collection became fragmented between the federal departments, such as the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce; and selected elements of the CIA which specialized in open source collection.  The two most important, still existing today as elements of the CIA, are the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), and the National Collection Division (NCD).  The former monitors foreign print and broadcast media; the latter works with private sector parties to obtain unclassified information.  Today the Community Open Source Program Office (COSPO) coordinates open source investments across the entire U.S. intelligence community.  Most other organizations including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) utilize External Research & Analysis (ER&A) funds to contract for open source collection and analysis from the private sector--however, these funds have been severely reduced in the 1990's as fiscal cut-backs and the desire to keep U.S. government personnel on board have led to great reductions in contracting for external (i.e. open source assistance)."  [Source: Chapter 1: Open Source Intelligence: Professional Handbook 1.0.]

 

DATABASE

COMMENT   OR   DESCRIPTION

ANALYSIS   &   REPORTS:

Technology Security

Technology Security and the Revolution in Military Affairs, by Dr. Stephen D. Bryen.

DOCUMENTS   &   THEORY:

Intelligence and Counterintelligence

Intelligence and Counterintelligence: Proposed Program for the 21st Century, by Robert David Steele that proposes "a program which is unique—and more promising than previously proposed attempts to fix the community on the margins—because it encompasses the full range of capabilities and insights extant in the "virtual intelligence community" of the 21st Century." Here is a 1996 paper.

The Privatisation of Intelligence

The Privatisation of Intelligence: A Way Forward for European Intelligence Cooperation. A Paper for the WEU Institute for Security Studies, 13-14 March 1997, Paris, "Towards a European Intelligence Policy."

Rumor of War

An Information Vendor's View of the Provision of Open-Source Data in an Unstable World, by Robert Hutchinson.

EXPERTS:

Keesing's Worldwide LLC

Keesing's Worldwide, LLC (Formerly Worldwide Government Directories), provides a WorldWide Directory of Defense Authorities that was first published in 1984, and has been revised 60% since 1997 [$500].

Kroll Associates

Investigations, Business Intelligence, and Risk Mitigation.

Oxford Analytica

"is unique for having a global network of almost 1,000 overt human experts on-call to prepare concise forecasts and situation reports suitable "for Presidents, Prime Ministers, and you". They specialize in political-economic reporting."

Profiles of World Government Leaders

Government authorities world-wide can be identified, with their full titles, addresses, and voice and fax numbers, through Worldwide Government Directories.

Special Libraries Association

"Special librarians are information resource experts dedicated to putting knowledge to work to attain the goals of their organizations. there are 10,282 Special Libraries in the United States.   This figure includes Corporate, Medical, Law, Religious, but not special libraries in public, academic, armed forces or government libraries."   Read their FAQ.

GOVERNMENTS   &   MILITARY:

Armed Forces of the World

By the Canadian Forces College, Department of National Defence (Canada).

Country Studies/Area Handbook Program

This online Army series presently contains studies of 85 countries, and the maps and charts are in PDF format. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0

Foreign Governments

"This resource is maintained by the GODORT International Documents Task Force and Northwestern University Library," and provides links to Country Governments alphabetically.

Government Resources on the Web

In addition to the U.S. Government, this site provides links to Foreign Governments and International Organizations.

GRAPHICS,   IMAGES,   &   MAPS:
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BDM Federal

"specializes in remote infrastructure surveys, using legally obtained open sources.".

Eastview Publications

"can rapidly identify and obtain maps of the Third World, generally down to the 1:250,000 level but sometimes better, which were created by the Soviet Union."

GIS Master Bibliography Project

"an easily accessible, public-domain, bibliographic database that will be available to all components of the GIS community."

Microsoft's TerraServer

is "the world's largest online database. It's a huge repository of aerial photographs and satellite images taken from miles overhead that you can view," and consists of one terrabyte of compressed data.

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection

Located at the University of Texas, the Map Collection "Map Collection (PCL 1.306) holds more than 230,000 maps covering every area of the world."

SPOT Image

"Offers a wide choice of geographical information products and services for professionals....It has most of the world digitized at the 10 meter scale, and from this scale can create 1:50,000 combat charts with contour lines." "All Spot Image digital products, including SPOTView®, are available on CD-ROM."

Thor: Maps and Travel Information

More than a dozen map-related resource links from Purdue University.

NEWS & PERIODICALS:

Defense & Government News

Seven online news sources, including Foreign Affairs, hosted by the Air University.

Intelligence Online

"is specially designed to appeal to diplomats, military and political officials, the heads of company security services or academics interested in intelligence matters, business intelligence and international political issues."

JANE'S News Briefs

Jane's weekly News Briefs "give you instant access to the most important issues in transport, defence and geopolitical intelligence."

World News Connection

This U.S. Government resource requires prior permission.

ORGANIZATIONS:

CNA Corporation

"is a not-for-profit organization providing research, analysis, and technical services to the government and other organizations. CNAC's two operating divisions are the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) and the Institute for Public Research (IPR)." Sites hosted by CNAC include Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Operations Study Group and the Irreducible Semi-Autonomous Adaptive Combat An Artificial-Life Approach to Land Warfare.

Center For Security Policy

"a non-profit, non-partisan organization to stimulate and inform the national and international debate about all aspects of security policy, notably those policies bearing on the foreign, defense, economic, financial and technology interests of the United States....The Center typically releases 3 or more products per week....Papers are promptly uploaded on this site"

Defense Special Weapons Agency

DSWA "serves as the Department of Defense's (DoD) center for nuclear and advanced weapons effects expertise. The Agency's mission is to research and develop technologies to support military systems and satisfy operational requirements. DSWA also manages military nuclear weapons stockpile support and conducts programs associated with Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar), force protection, arms control technology and counterproliferation support."  Note: Based on the Defense Reform Initiative, DSWA is now part of the new Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

"The mission of DTRA is to reduce the threat to the United States and its allies from nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC), conventional and special weapons...and to provide technical support on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) matters to the DoD Components."

International Organizations

"The University of Virginia Library is a depository for the publications of the United Nations, the European Union, and World Trade Organization. It also collects extensively from OECD, World Bank, UNESCO, IMF, ILO, and other International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)."

Military Police Homepage

Topics include Locator, Chat Room, Wanted List, In Memoriam, MP's In The News, MP Creed, MP Homepages, Unit Web Pages, Relocation Assistance, Reunions, MP Alumni Associations, MP School, and Senior Leaders.

United States Intelligence Community

"The Intelligence Community is a group of 13 government agencies and organizations that carry out the intelligence activities of the United States Government."

PUBLICATIONS   &   REPORTS:
The British Library

"specializes in monitoring international publications, and does especially well with respect to Africa and Asia, and conferences about both scientific & technical topics, and general topics including military matters. They are an especially good source now for examining the contents of conference Proceedings, and offer their products in CD-ROM." See also here.

Military Periodicals, Publications, and Newsletters

An alphabetical list of more than 100 military periodicals, publications, and newsletters..

OSS.Net Policy Papers

Approximately 20 papers about open sources, intelligence, and related topics, mostly by Robert D. Steele.

Social Science Citation Index

"For rapid identification of predominantly academic experts, the Social Science Citation Index and the Science Citation Index are unmatched--they are particularly useful in that they provide the expert's address, prior publications, and list of citations by others, establishing their peer recognition as authorities."

White House Publications

The source for more than twelve thousand documents in 174 categories, the primary categories being Document Type, Economy, Environment, Foreign, Government, Politics, Security, Social, and U.S.A Region

GENERIC GUIDES TO INFORMATION & RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET:
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@Ease Military Sites

An alphabetical list of military related sites from "The Internet's only Unofficial Military Public Affairs Resource Site."  Consider also these media sites: (in California),   (by State),   or   (by source),   as well as  Crisis Communications,   Key Leaders,   and  Virus Hoaxes.

Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resources

Provides evaluations for links to these categories: Arts & Humanities, Business & Employment, Communication, Computers & Information, Technology, Education, Engineering, Environment, Government & Law, Health & Medicine, Places & Peoples, Recreation, Science & Mathematics, Social Sciences & Social Issues.

Infowar.com

Typical categories include Class I - Privacy, Class II - Espionage, Class III- Terrorism, Call for Papers, Conferences, Electronic Civil Defense, Hacker Musings, Humor, Info Operations, Law & Legal Issues, Military and C4I, Products & Services, Resources Surveys and Studies, Tools and Utilities, WMD, Who's Who?, etc.

InterNet Search Zone

The ISZ is one of the best resources on the InterNet for information searching.  It is user friendly, provides links to both topic indexes and text searching tools, as well as identifing special search tools.

Kim Spy Intelligence & Counterintelligence

Provides links to an eclectic assortment of files and sources including Hot Topics, Press Release - Announcements, Cyber War, Signal Intelligence, Mind Control, US Intelligence Agencies, Foreign Countries, Eyewitness and Misc. Publications, Non-Governmental Resources, Weapons and Their Transfers, Other Lists of Military Intelligence, and Intelligence Professional Associations, among others.

Maxus Systems Military Links

Provides links to: Government Agencies, Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations, Intelligence, Information Warfare, Publications, Think Tanks, and Miscellaneous.

Military and Related links

Unofficial but useful page by the Navy SEALS.   Their homepage may be useful too.

Online Intelligence Project

"The Online Intelligence Project is oriented towards individuals and professionals with an interest in international news, commerce, references. It uses an intelligence service model to array resources into departments/regional desks." It is an active site.

Rongstad's Links

Rongstad's Worldwide Military Intelligence & Information Warfare Links are useful, and this site provides URL verification dates.

Strategic Intelligence

Loyola University's site with categories including Intelligence Community, Military Intelligence, Government Intel Servers, International Links, Organizations, Documents, Reorganization, Journals and Articles, Economic Espionage and Intelligence, Historical Interest, Ames Affair, Debates and Controversy, and Conferences.

WWW Starting Points - Intelligence

Focuses on Intelligence, Maps, and Weapon systems.



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Copyright (c) 1994-1995 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rachel Gollub, 1995
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The VICTOR Database of Open-Source Databases was revised on Wednesday, January 20, 1999.
Every link was tested and working on that day.
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