About Hunter Storm Numbering Classification System (HSCNS)

Hunter Storm Numbering System (HSCNS)

The Hunter Storm Numbering System (HSCNS) is the universal identification system used to assign persistent, unique identifiers across the Hunter Storm corpus.

HSCNS is designed to solve a problem common to large organizations: information becomes difficult to find when every application, department, evidence repository, case-management system, document system, or external authority assigns its own unrelated identifier.

HSCNS provides a common identification layer across those systems.

One Numbering System

HSCNS does not create separate numbering systems for artifacts, incidents, evidence, references, analyses, or other record types.

Instead, each record receives an HSCNS identifier, while its record type, category, classification, relationships, provenance, and access status are maintained as metadata.

This allows different kinds of records to coexist within one searchable identification system without forcing them into the same classification.

For example, an HSCNS record may represent:

an artifact;
an incident;
an incident series;
a corpus;
a person or entity;
an external reference;
an analytical record;
a structural or site record; or
another defined record type.

The identifier identifies the record. Metadata describes what the record is.

Categories Are Not Separate Numbering Systems

HSCNS categories provide organizational structure within the universal numbering system.

For example, HS-400 is a category within HSCNS. It does not constitute a separate numbering system.

Likewise, a classification such as Publication is not itself an HSCNS numbering category. It is a classification that may be applied to an appropriate record.

This distinction prevents the identification system from becoming confused with the taxonomy used to describe its contents.

Persistent Identification

Once assigned, an HSCNS identifier remains associated with the record. An identifier is not reused merely because:

a record becomes restricted;
a record is superseded;
a record is moved to another repository;
a record is reclassified;
a record is linked to a different corpus;
a record becomes public or private; or
the underlying storage mechanism changes.

Where appropriate, the record may be marked superseded, withdrawn, duplicate, restricted, or otherwise modified without changing its historical identifier.

External Identifiers

HSCNS does not replace identifiers assigned by other systems or authorities. An HSCNS record may retain and cross-reference:

government document numbers;
agency case or reference numbers;
publication identifiers;
legal citations;
native database identifiers;
email message identifiers;
URLs;
file names;
repository identifiers; and
other source-system identifiers.

These identifiers remain part of the record’s provenance.

HSCNS provides the common reference point that allows otherwise unrelated numbering systems to be connected.

Classification and Identification Are Different Functions

HSCNS answers:

What record is this?

Classification answers:

How should this record or event be described?

The distinction is intentional.

A record may therefore have one persistent HSCNS identifier while acquiring additional classifications, relationships, or metadata over time.

Public and Restricted Records

Not every HSCNS record is intended for public release.

A record may have a public directory entry while the underlying material remains restricted or private. In other circumstances, both the existence and contents of a record may be restricted.

Access status therefore controls visibility, not identity.

A restricted record does not disappear from the numbering system.

Design Principle

HSCNS is intended to provide one persistent identification layer across a large and evolving corpus.

HSCNS identifies. Classification describes. Relationships connect. Access controls disclosure.

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