Using search engines and data bases

Summary of search results

I have listed the searches below in the order of least useful to most useful for an academic research project.

• Google general (141,00 hits), Google Scholar (1380 hits - very specialized), Copernic (60 hits - specialized)


• Google general search produced a Wikipedia entry first in both cases. Copernic listed it second and Google scholar did not reference this site


• Google general and Copernic listed similar academic references later


• Both Copernic and Google Scholar produced the best references. Copernic gave a percentage value for the link relevance.


• Google Scholar listed the number of citations - a useful measure of how relevant peers found it

Google Search Engine - with "attention + economy" and also with "attention economy"

1. Attention economy - Wikipedia
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy



2. The Attention Economy: An Overview - ReadWriteWeb
   www.readwriteweb.com/archives/attention_economy_overview.php



3. Attention Economy: All You Need To Know - ReadWriteWeb
   www.readwriteweb.com/archives/attention_economy_primer.php



4. The Attention Economy: Understanding the New ...
   books.google.com.au


5. Amazon.com: The Attention Economy : Understanding the New Currency ...
   www.amazon.com/Attention-Economy-Understanding-Currency-Business/dp/157851441X

Copernic Agent Basic (with 6 search engines activated)

1. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/attention_economy_overview.php


2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy
   
3. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/attention_economy_primer.php


4. http://p2pfoundation.net/Attention_Economy


5. http://www.amazon.com/Attention-Economy-Understanding-Currency-Business/dp/157851441X

Google Scholar with "attention economy"

1. The attention economy and the net


2. The attention economy TH Davenport, JC Beck - Ubiquity, 2001 - portal.acm.org


3. [BOOK] The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business books.google.com


4. [BOOK] Adolescents and literacies in a digital world
   tcrecord.org

Tools for using the Web

This was an interesting, but frustrating, exercise. It was fun to download the programs and play round with them. However, I forgot to make a System Restore point before each installation. I should know better. One of them (Webcopier) caused problems with Internet Explorer. I have version 7 installed and it appears I have to uninstall this and then repair 6 using the disk. However, uninstalling will probably cause problems with about 7 programs installed afterwards that link to it. It can wait. I use Firefox anyway so will only need it for NED12.

• I updated Adobe Reader and Quicktime, checked I had Media Player.


• Real Networks Real One proved interesting but after an initial play I put it aside to investigate further - after the course.


• Webcopier proved useful - even though it caused me so many problems. I was able to download the multiple pages of PageTutor and work off line - a facility that Curtin probably applauds.


• I am still evaluating Bookmark Buddy. It proved easier to copy and paste a lot of the manual rather than press buttons as it was not as intuitive as some of the others - at least to get the maximum benefit out of it. However, the jury is out on it as I realised I had so many links already from other units that I would probably never need again - or could easily find anyway. I have had a massive clean-up of my Firefox Bookmark site and created some new folders to more easily find and use the links. Bookmark Buddy makes everything much easier - but being a hoarder by nature - I think I would end up with hundreds of links I would never use.


• Copernic proved a real gem. An program that indexes my files and allows me to find things using keywords is probably the most useful tool yet. It's companion site, Agent Basic, provided more powerful searching.