Those who can do, do... those who can't do, manage!
(or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cushy Job)

It doesn't return search results because you haven't configured Livelink properly, or you are using a very old version of Livelink.
Searching on the DataID can work. You should read up on 'Best Bets' functionality, or how to use the Livelink Query Language.

Regarding your second comment, is not called the favourites box, but instead 'Featured Items' and this behaviour is configurable in later versions, too.
Upgrade Livelink to version 9.7.1 if you are not already there.

Livelink is incredibly powerful and can be configured to do anything you need it to do, but the key is knowing how to do it. A skilled administrator is definitely needed.

Full Disclosure:
I work for Open Text and am a certified Livelink Systems Administrator.

This is built for the exact situation you described:

http://www.opentext.com/2/global/sol-products/sol-pro-docmgmt-collaboration.htm
You can either import the files into the system, or leave them in place, index them and use the search engines to locate the needles in your haystacks...

About Open Text:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Text

Hummingbird is a subsidiary of Open Text, the solution mentioned above...

Full Disclosure:

I am an Open Text employee.

"Science magazine speculates that deaths from this event could exceed the 240,000 killed in the Tangshan quake in 1976, though the estimated death toll is below 10,000 at this writing"

ACTUALLY... nowhere in the articles at Science Magazine does it say they think it could exceed 240,000 deaths.

It says 10,000 so far. Period.

Talk about FUD!