Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Infor mation -trapping Scenarios
setting up information traps is a large investment in time and thought, and you might be
wondering if it's worth it for your topic. Consider these scenarios:
Example #1: You're a pr professional. You have ten clients whose names you want to monitor in
the context of their appearances, getting coverage in the media, and so forth. You have ten easy
candidates for information trapping.
Example #: a member of your family has cystic ibrosis. they have very good medical care but
you want to monitor news, medical, and governmental resources for updates and information
about advances in the care of people with cystic ibrosis.
Example #: You're an avid collector of old woodworking tools. for your own interest and to
enhance a hobby site you've put together, you want to monitor news, discussion groups, and
hobby blogs for information about old woodworking tools.
all these examples are valid, whether they're related to hobbies, personal interests, or
professional pursuits. Information trapping doesn't have to be related to the stock market or a
professional endeavor to provide useful results.
Asking the Right Questions
I'm going to spend a lot of time in this topic talking about techniques, resources,
sites, and sotware—the stuf you'll need to make your information traps a real-
ity. But before I get to that I want you to be aware that one of the most important
tools for efective information trapping is your own brain. Your brain is what
guides the process and determines the kind of content you actually want to see.
It's essential that you ask the right questions before you begin.
his section details the questions you should ask yourself each and every
time you design an information trap.
Why trap for this particular topic?
here are literally millions of topics that are suitable candidates for infor-
mation trapping, but you still need to think about why you want to trap a
particular one. Being able to answer why you want to trap it inluences the
resources you choose and the way you organize your information. Are you
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