About Hunter Storm Evidence Repository (HSER)

Hunter Storm Evidence Repository (HSER)

Documenting What Happened

The Hunter Storm Evidence Repository (HSER) is a specialized evidence and occurrence-management system within the Hunter Storm information architecture.

HSER provides the infrastructure for documenting occurrences, incidents, events, evidence, evidence relationships, provenance, classification, and associated information when the thing being documented is not adequately represented by a conventional documentary record alone.

It is designed to preserve the relationship between what happened, what establishes that it happened, where the information came from, and how the occurrence or evidence can be classified and related to other records.

Purpose

Traditional records describe things: publications, presentations, photographs, reports, correspondence, research, system outputs, and other documentary artifacts.

HSER addresses a different requirement:

Something happened.

An occurrence may subsequently be documented by a photograph, screenshot, document, system log, video, report, witness account, communication, physical record, or other source.

Those evidence artifacts are records in their own right, but they are not necessarily the occurrence itself.

HSER provides a structured way to represent both.

Core Capabilities

HSER supports the management and relationship of:

Occurrences — things that happened or are documented as having happened
Incidents and Events — structured occurrence types where applicable
Evidence — artifacts that document, support, corroborate, contextualize, or otherwise relate to an occurrence
Sources — origins of information or evidence
Evidence Relationships — typed relationships between occurrences, evidence, records, and other entities
Provenance — information about origin, custody, derivation, verification, and evidentiary context
Classification — application of the Hunter Storm Classification System and applicable classification dimensions
External Crosswalks — mappings between HSCS concepts and established external terminology or taxonomies
Evidence Status — representation of the epistemic or corroborative state of information
Attribution Status — distinction between what is documented and what can be attributed
Record Identity — persistent linkage to HSRMS records and identifiers
Lifecycle Management — application of applicable HSRMS record-management controls

Occurrence and Evidence

HSER distinguishes between an occurrence and the evidence documenting that occurrence.

For example, an occurrence may describe that physical damage occurred at a particular location and time. A photograph may document the resulting damage. A police report may provide another source describing the occurrence. A system log, email, video, or witness account may provide additional evidence or context.

These are related information objects, not interchangeable ones.

The relationship is therefore preserved explicitly rather than collapsing the occurrence into whichever documentary artifact happens to describe it.

Occurrence → Evidence → Source → Provenance

Multiple evidence artifacts may relate to one occurrence, and a single evidence artifact may relate to multiple occurrences or records.

Classification

Occurrences and associated evidence may be classified using the Hunter Storm Classification System (HSCS).

Classification describes what an occurrence, record, or evidence object represents. It does not by itself establish motive, responsibility, criminality, attribution, jurisdiction, investigation, or institutional endorsement.

Where established external terminology is useful for interoperability or comprehension, HSCS concepts may be mapped through documented government or external classification crosswalks.

Use of an external taxonomy, terminology, or classification framework does not imply affiliation with, authorization by, certification from, or endorsement by the organization that maintains it.

Provenance and Evidence Status

HSER preserves provenance as a distinct information layer.

The system distinguishes:

what is being documented;
what evidence exists;
where that evidence originated;
how evidence relates to an occurrence;
what verification or corroboration exists;
what remains uncertain; and
what classification or attribution can appropriately be assigned.

Evidence status therefore does not replace evidence itself.

A source may exist without establishing a particular conclusion, and an occurrence may have multiple sources with different evidentiary characteristics.

HSER preserves those distinctions rather than forcing uncertainty into a binary yes/no determination.

Relationship to HSRMS

HSER operates within the Hunter Storm Records Management System (HSRMS) environment.

HSRMS provides the overarching records-management architecture, identity, metadata, lifecycle controls, controlled vocabularies, classification infrastructure, relationships, and governance.

HSER provides specialized capabilities for occurrence and evidence management.

The systems therefore have complementary roles:

HSRMS manages the record.
HSER manages the occurrence-and-evidence relationships associated with that record.

HSER does not replace HSRMS as the authoritative records-management environment.

Relationship to Other Hunter Storm Systems

HSER is designed to interoperate with other components of the Hunter Storm information architecture.

Relevant relationships may include:

HSRMS — records management and system-of-record infrastructure
HSCS — classification terminology and classification assignments
HSCNS / HSCS identifiers — persistent identification and classification of managed information
HASOPS — operational observations and telemetry that may produce records or evidence
Research and analytical applications — derived views and assessments using managed information
Timelines and other public applications — presentation layers derived from authoritative records and relationships

Applications may present HSER information in different forms without becoming the authoritative source of that information.

Designed for Interoperability

HSER uses established information-management concepts wherever appropriate rather than creating isolated terminology for concepts that already have recognized meanings.

External standards, taxonomies, authorities, and classification frameworks may therefore be represented through documented mappings and crosswalks.

The objective is interoperability and intelligibility:

A knowledgeable reader should be able to recognize what a record represents, understand the terminology being used, identify its source and provenance, and distinguish documented facts from classification, attribution, and uncertainty.

External terminology remains attributable to its originating authority. Its use within HSER does not create institutional affiliation or endorsement.

Design Principles

HSER is built around several principles:

Document the occurrence.
Do not confuse the thing that happened with a document describing it.

Preserve the evidence.
Evidence is retained as a distinct information object with its own identity and provenance.

Preserve relationships.
The relationship between an occurrence, evidence, source, and related records is part of the information.

Classify explicitly.
Use controlled terminology and documented classification relationships rather than relying on ad hoc descriptions.

Separate classification from attribution.
Describing what something is does not establish who caused it.

Represent uncertainty.
Incomplete or conflicting information is not silently converted into certainty.

Preserve provenance.
Information is more useful when its origin and evidentiary context remain visible.

Maintain authoritative identity.
Derived applications and presentations remain connected to the authoritative HSRMS record.

Use established vocabulary.
Where recognized terminology exists, use it accurately and identify its authority.

The Architectural Model

At its core, HSER preserves a structured relationship among:

Occurrence
↓
Evidence
↓
Source
↓
Provenance

with Classification, Evidence Status, Attribution Status, and Relationships providing additional dimensions around those objects.

The resulting architecture allows the Hunter Storm information environment to document not only what was published or recorded, but also what happened, what establishes it, how the information relates, and what can responsibly be said about it.

Hunter Storm