But this may be due to the fact that they are primarily going after information from and about individuals within targeted organizations. What I think is useful is to get an understanding of a thought process that is far removed from a traditional library point of view. The chapter on how to set up a war room at a conference to gather the required intelligence will have many librarians horrified, but there is some validity in their methods. And I think those in a business environment will identify with the corporate need to know. Also of interest are the techniques used to analyze and present the data.
Data visualization is a key component.
In fact, the war room is really just a secure place to be able to put the increasing mounds of data on display, to aid the analysis and extraction process. Computer technology increasingly plays a part in helping to interpret the raw data and turn it into information and finally intelligence. The last part of the book discusses security issues and counter-intelligence. I think many organizations could benefit from tighter security, but I draw the line at deliberate misinformation campaigns. For those interested in pursuing competitive intelligence, reading this book may help professionals in the library arena develop a more holistic approach to the entire realm of competitive intelligence, of which online searching is just one small component.