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Information Trapping Real Time Research on the Web

Information Trapping Real Time Research on the Web

How many times have you run a Google search that resulted in thousands of results? With over 8 billion pages online and more posted every day, the Web more than likely contains the information you’re looking for — if only you could find it. In Information Trapping: Real-Time Research on the Web, Internet-search-engine expert Tara Calishain makes researching more efficient and rewarding for anyone for whom the Web is an indispensable tool — academics, journalists, scientists, and professionals, as well as bloggers, genealogists, and hobbyists. She does so by teaching the latest techniques for building automated information-gathering systems. As an alternative to the typical one-time search for information, Tara demonstrates how readers can use RSS feeds, page monitoring tools, and other software to set up information streams of many different data types — from text to multimedia to conversations — for capture and review.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Very helpful for market research
There is something for the beginner through to the advanced researcher in this book. Some of it will get dated fairly quickly as the web evolves almost faster than a book can be written. Her syntactical search tips for all the major tools are very valuable. I had never tried the intitle:keyword syntax prior to this, nor had I used cluster search tools, very cool. Lots of tips on how and where to see who is linking to your content plus where your content may be landing (without your permission!). A good working book, if you try out 1/3 of her suggestions your web searching capabilities will grow substantially. Very helpful for market researchers. She is quite prolific in this area.

4 Stars A very good informative book
I found this book quite useful. I was already using RSS readers and all sorts of life hacks to make my life more efficient. When I came across this book, I thought it might be just what I was looking for to expose me to a whole new set of tools.

That’s exactly what it did. Some tools were better than others, and some tools weren’t really that good, but at least I know them. I am quite glad I bought it. Now I know a lot more about automatic trapping of information. With all the explosion of information, there is certainly a need for more automatic capture of knowledge. Highly recommended.

5 Stars Information Trapping ROCKS!
This is a fantastic book. It is written clearly, and even though I run an Internet website, I have learned much.

Tara really knows her stuff. I would not hesitate to buy this book as it is possible the publisher will one do one printing. If that happens, you may have a tough time getting a copy.

4 Stars She almost hit a home run with me but the ending was a triple
I was so impressed with the book. Tara’s writing style is easy and user friendly. She gave a lot of great information. Sometimes overwhelming information but it was organized in a easy to read format.You could keep up with the information. I kept thinking , I hope she give us a lot of examples at the end on how I can become an information trapper.

She gave one example of someone looking for external information and one example of someone looking for internal information. One example! (320 pages of information, on acquiring tons of information and one example how you can use it.) I will take it, most writers are too lazy to even give you one example.

But she could have hit a home run with me giving me several examples of how you could become a basic, intermediate and advance information trapper and given us several case studies to tie it up.

At very least, give us an example of what she is doing. She talks about trapping information on autism. Then, give us an example of how she,an advance professional, uses all of the resources to trap information.

How does a professional does it.

And I had hope, that perhaps by registering my book on the website, she will give gives us case studies there.. If a person wanted to trap the subject of ovarian cancer , give us an example what she does. Remember, we are newbie, we have never done this before.

She has a website and a company , called ResearchBuzz and this is what Tara does for a living. I wish she would have spend a lot of time wrapping things up and give us plenty of examples how this is done.

I do recommend the book. Its an amazing book and I did learn many new things. A better ending will have been the frosting on the cake and a walk off home run. And a rating of 5!

4 Stars Well written with some good techniques on automating research
In Information Trapping, Tara Calishain does a good job covering the basics of automated searching and information trapping, and even covers more advanced topics like re-publishing the information you find to a blog or Wiki. The writing is clear and concise, and the structure is easy to follow.

Chapters include:

What is Information Trapping

RSS Basics

Page Monitors

Email Alerts

Building Queries

Who’s Linking to Your Site?

Trapping Topic-Based Information

Multimedia Trapping

Trapping tags and Conversations

Filtering the Inflow

Case Studies

Organizing What You Find

Publishing Your Information

Throughout the book, the author does a good job of mentioning the best sites you can use today to find and mine information, and explores some advanced search engine query syntax, and methods of emailing, filtering, and organizing the information your search will return.

If you are looking to extract data from the web, Information Trapping is a good primer on using automated methods to find information on the web.

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Google Pocket Guide

Google Pocket Guide

Beneath its deceptively simple search form, Google is a remarkably powerful and flexible search engine that indexes billions of web pages, handling more than 150 million searches a day. You know that what you’re looking for must be in there somewhere, but how do you make Google work for you? Crafted from our best-selling Google Hacks title, the Google Pocket Guide provides exactly the information you need to make your searches faster and more effective, right from the start. The Google Pocket Guide unleashes the power behind that blinking cursor by delivering:

• A thorough but concise tour of Google’s features
• Practical examples to inspire going beyond the basic keyword search
• Secrets for constructing more powerful queries using Google’s special syntax
• Advice on how to understand and further refine the results Google provides

Whether you’re a student researching a topic for class, a medical or legal professional needing field-specific reference information, or a home user looking for that article on home repair you forgot to bookmark, the Google Pocket Guide will take you from mystified to mastery.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Remember to Play Your Wild Cards!
Google Pocket Guide, 2003

By Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, and D.J. Adams

Published by O’Reilly and Associates, Inc.

ISBN: 0-596-00550-4

Paperback, 129pp

The search engine Google, born on September 7, 1998, derived its name from a word invented by a nine-year-old child, Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician, Edward Kasner. As with precocious children like Milton or the giant bean stalks of English fairy tales, it is difficult to keep up with Google’s rapid development. Until I read the Google Pocket Guide, by Tara Calishain, Rael Dorfest and DJ Adams I was unaware of all the things Google has learned to do. Now, in addition to finding Web pages that contain keywords, Google helps me find telephone numbers, solve mathematical equations and cook — Google can convert cups to pints or just about anything to anything else. Using google maps, I can look at the crater, Giordano Bruno, on the dark side of the Moon, fly to Mars or see my house and yard in a satellite picture that seems to have been taken from only few hundred feet away. The pocket guide is full of information about how to use features I never knew existed. Did I mention Google Images? After reading Google Pocket Guide, I want to read more books about Google. I would like to read Google Hacks, Google: The Missing Manual and Google Maps Hacks.

In addition to describing all the things Google has learned to do, the Google Pocket Guide explains how to make searches more efficient (Part II), “explains how to interpret Google’s results pages and URLs, and set preferences to influence what those pages contain” (Part III), and goes into advanced functionality like Language Tools, Groups, Directories and News (Part IV).

The authors say, “Knowing how to be specific with your search criteria is key. That’s what this book is all about.” To remember this I think (ASAP=ASAP) the key to getting results ASAP is being As Specific As Possible. For instance, instead of searching every Web site on the Internet, limit your search to educational sites by using special syntax (also referred to as advanced search operators). For example, when I search for “plenoptic camera site:edu” Google will return results from educational sites only. The authors also suggest using basic Boolean operators like NOT, represented by the minus sign, AND and OR. Did you know that Google limits queries to ten words and ignores the rest?

Tara Clishain, Rael Dornfest and DJ Adams have delivered a lot of information in only 129 pages. This book is a great starting point for anyone wanting to know Google better. This is a link you might find useful: http://www.google.com/help/features.html.

Google is fun:)

Michael Morgan

4 Stars Google Pocket Guide
Book Review: Google Pocket Guide

By Gregory West

Editor, SCUG Report

Sarnia Computer User’s Group – www.scug.ca

By Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, and D.J. Adams

Published by O’Reilly and Associates, Inc.

Category: Internet Search Engine.

ISBN: 0-596-00550-4

Format: Paperback, 129pp

U.S. $9.95 / CAN. $15.95

For many, surfing the Net is a matter of going to Google (or any other search engine) and simply typing in a name, a phrase, or any relative brief statement that will hopefully bring them the desired results for their search. However, for a lot of people today, surfing the Net is a very cumbersome job, and nets very few exacting effects. In fact, many surfers will find the results to their search in the millions – yes millions of web pages that are offering the right answer to a desired query. At first, this is fun to see all those pages, but after a few scrolls down the item list of possible correct sights, one soon gets discouraged and the sites that have no real information regarding the initial request.

So, how does the serious surfer get the information they request in Google? How does one eliminate a few million hits down to a more manageable search? It is not easy, yet with the help of Google Pocket Guide you will be able to narrow down and zero in on the item you are searching. As the authors claim, “The Internet is not a library” as many now believe. In fact, the authors point out that “So search engine – not even Google – knows everything.” But with the guidance of this easy-to-follow pocket guide, you can certainly target your search to a much more manageable result, thus saving you hours of frustration and possible failure to disclose any relevant information you desire.

The book takes you from a “Simple Example” to an “Advance Search” guiding you along in each step to successful searches. The table of contents is clearly marked out, the main parts are in BOLD text for a quick and easy reference. You are taken on a quick tour of the relevant ways in which Google works, using syntax, wildcards, exacting query wording, phrase searches, basic Boolean, and much more. Part III, “UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU GET”, goes into detail about interface language, search language, SafeSearch Filtering and more…this all sounds quite technical, but the Google Pocket Guide explains all this technical stuff in very easy-to-follow language, and it gives you the basics of how and what Google is doing while you surf. Part IV highlights Google’s other services and features that can save you even more time and narrow your searches to specific areas, such as News, Images, Browsing Groups, Stock Trading, Searching Article Archives and much more.

For the more adventurous surfer Google Pocket Guide explains how to find Technical Definitions, Consulting Phonebooks, Directories of Information, Finding Weblog Commentary. The Google Toolbar is a great add-on to your web browser and the how-to-install is easily explained herein. Don’t forget to check out the “Googling with Bookmarklets”. These Bookmarklets “are like bookmarks but with an extra bit of JavaScript magic added. This makes them more interactive than regular bookmarks; they can perform small functions like opening a window, grabbing highlighted text from a web page, or submitting a query to a search engine.”

As you can see, surfing the Net is changing and Google is at the forefront of this change. Surfing with the guidance of the Google Pocket Guide is not only extremely efficient, but also it is fun to check out all the various features that make surfing a much more efficient and enjoyable adventure. Happy Googling!

Gregory West is the Editor of SCUG Report www.scug.ca and affiliated with the Association of Personal Computer User Groups www.apcug.net.

5 Stars Great reference!
The Google Pocket Guide is a small subset of the main google book.

this is a handy refernce in its own right.

5 Stars Just buy it
Like all great products, the ability to start using it should be instant, but the possible features up for usage should be very deep.

Google makes it simple for anyone to do a search. This book helps make it simple for anyone to do a GREAT search.

Well worth the money.

1 Star What’s next – an operating manual for my toothbrush?
You’ve got to be kidding. I saw this and numerous other volumes at the bookstore about using Google and I laughed out loud. I had to pull this one off the shelf and see if it was a joke. After spending about 30 minutes flipping through it (that’s about all it takes to get from front to back) I realized just how jealous I was becoming for not having thought of writing such a book first. The formula is simple – cull through readily available information on the Internet and repackage it in a friendly format for all the rubes with disposable income burning a hole in their pocket (come to think of it – isn’t that the O’Reilly business plan?). What is so ironic is that Google was developed to be EXTREMELY easy – a true search engine for the masses. Its fundamental appeal is its ease of use, making guidebooks such as these silly at best, sad at the very worst. Take my advice, save your money and go treat yourself to a pizza.

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