Monday, August 29, 2011

An indicator of interest in UNESCO

Source: Google Trends
The upper graph shown above shows the relative frequency with which the word "UNESCO" has been used as a search term in Google. The graph indicates a yearly cycle, with a drop in interest in UNESCO in the summer and in December. It also shows a drop in interest over the six and a half year period shown.

The lower graph indicates that the volume of references to UNESCO in Google indexed news has increased over time.
The points on the graph identified by letter above show that there was an increase in Google searches when new sites were added to the World Heritage list, when UNESCO deleted Dresden from that list due to construction which was seen to detract from its historical and scenic value, and when Irina Bokova was elected Director General of the Organization. There is an especially important meeting of the Executive Board of UNESCO followed by a General Conference of member nations every other year, in the fall. It appears that these event were marked by an increase in interest in UNESCO not only in 2009 when DG Bokova was elected, but also in 2007 and 2005.

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