Information Trapping: Real-Time Research on the Web (Paperback)

~ Tara Calishain (Author)
Key Phrases: web clips, saved searches, conversation trapping, Google Groups, Advanced Search, Google Alert (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.

About the Author

Tara Calishain is the creator of ResearchBuzz, an award-winning Web site covering the world of Internet research, with more than 2,000 pointers, articles, and reviews related to search engines, databases, and online information collections. Tara has written and co-written a number of search-related books, including the award-winning Web Search Garage, the New York Times bestseller Google Hacks, and the Official Netscape Guide to Internet Research.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (December 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321491718
• ISBN-13: 978-0321491718
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,013 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written with some good techniques on automating research, January 17, 2007

By	R. Walling (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She almost hit a home run with me but the ending was a triple, February 14, 2007

By	stingray (Covina, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews

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!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful for market research, July 11, 2007

By	Reg Nordman "(K)nights on the Road" (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.