Description

The IBM i2 Analyst’s Notebook Core Skills Course will provide students with a foundation level of knowledge to use the latest version of Analyst’s Notebook (ANB) effectively. It will introduce the core functions of the software to enable students to create, search, merge and customise Analyst’s Notebook (ANB).

Students will be able to apply the correct charting conventions, create association and temporal charts, conduct basic search and analysis functions, import data to create basic charts, merge existing charts, print charts and customise ANB.

This course provides a foundation level and does not cover the many analysis functions currently available within the software.

For students wishing to understand the full functionality of the software, it is recommended they attend the 2-day Advanced Analysis and Importing Course that will cover the more complex search and analysis functions that allow charts to be fully interrogated.

To support students from all working environments, a range of data sets are used during the course, including people, financial, communication and crime data.

Prerequisites

Students must have a satisfactory knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Office applications.

Audience

This course is suitable for anyone wishing to learn how to use the basic functions of the software.

Objectives

• Produce various Chart types that include Entities, Attributes, Links and Cards
• Show how to display various Time Zones on a Chart
• Change the representation of Chart items to support analysis
• Customise ANB by creating new Entities, Links and Attributes to tailor ANB to any organisation
• Utilise the basic functions to search and interrogate Charts to identify key Entities to support analysis and identify discrepancies
• Apply various Association and Temporal layouts to change the format of the Charts to identify patterns and use more structured layouts
• Create basic Import Specifications to create detailed Association and Temporal Charts using data from Excel / csv files
• Merge charts being aware of the behaviours of Entities and Link Types
• Produce Presentation Charts to highlight key Entities and Networks
• Format Charts for dissemination considering Cover Sheets, Page Setup and Redaction of sensitive information

Topics

• Introduction to Analyst’s Notebook
  • Introductions
  • Course Overview & Learning Outcomes
• Creating Charts
  • Understand how to use information/intelligence to create Charts
  • Add Entities, Links and Attributes to create Association and Temporal Charts
  • Store relevant information on Entities and Links by creating Cards
  • Apply Link analysis using the most appropriate Link Type, Strength and Colour
  • Explain and apply the correct Charting Protocols to ensure consistency and to prevent flawed analysis
  • Show how intelligence Gaps / Discrepancies can be displayed on the Chart to support intelligence analysis
  • Utilise the ‘Change Representation’ function to change the format and style of a Chart
  • Display date and times from different Time Zones
• Customising ANB
  • Customise the Quick Access Toolbar to display the most common features
  • Create a new Palette that includes newly created and existing Entities, Links, Attribute Classes and Attribute Entries
  • Explain the default settings of ANB and how they can be changed
  • Create and save a Template to utilise to create future Charts
• Searching Charts
  • Utilise the basic search functions: Search Bar, Find Text, List Items, List Cards, Analysis Attributes, Visual Search and Selection Sets
  • Apply Filters to sort data and export to Excel using List Items
  • Demonstrate the benefits of searching using Analysis Attributes
  • Use Regular Expressions and Wildcards to conduct complex Find Text searching
  • Utilise the Single and Linked Visual Search options
• Layouts
  • Use the various Association layouts to identify patterns in activity
  • Use the Temporal layouts to identify patterns in activity using date and time
• Importing
  • Understand the concept of importing data and how it must be formatted
  • Use Column Actions to manipulate the data to be 'i2 friendly'
  • Create a basic Import Specification to create an Association Chart
  • Create a basic Import Specification to create a Temporal Chart
  • Change the Link width to show the most connected Entities
• Combining Charts and merge Entities
  • Combine Charts both manually and system generated
  • Utilise Smart Matching to find similar or duplicate Entities
  • Explain the concept of behaviours and what must be considered when using default settings
  • Change the rule for behaviours of Links and Attributes to help support your analysis
• Dissemination Charts
  • Add a Legend on the Chart
  • Understand and apply the Page Setup function to format a Chart for dissemination
  • Create a Cover Sheet entering Operation / Investigation name, Author and Organisation Security Classification
  • Save a Chart as a Picture and PDF document
  • Create Redacted Charts for dissemination
  • Embed an image into a Chart
  • Produce Snapshots and export to PowerPoint to show how the investigation developed