Server Log Files Research Articles

Evaluating electronic journals services and monitoring their usage by means of WWW server log file analysis

Most electronic journals are now Web‐based. This paper introduces the method of WWW server log file analysis and its application to evaluating electronic journals services and in monitoring their usage. Following a short description on the method and its possible application, the main results of a study of WWW server log file analysis of the electronic journal “Review of Information Science” will be presented and discussed. Finally, several concluding remarks will be given.

SpeedTracer: A Web usage mining and analysis tool

SpeedTracer, a World Wide Web usage mining and analysis tool, was developed to understand user surfing behavior by exploring the Web server log files with data mining techniques. As the popularity of the Web has exploded, there is a strong desire to understand user surfing behavior. However, it is difficult to perform user-oriented data mining and analysis directly on the server log files because they tend to be ambiguous and incomplete. With innovative algorithms, SpeedTracer first identifies user sessions by reconstructing user traversal paths. It does not require “cookies” or user registration for session identification. User privacy is protected. Once user sessions are identified, data mining algorithms are then applied to discover the most common traversal paths and groups of pages frequently visited together. Important user browsing patterns are manifested through the frequent traversal paths and page groups, helping the understanding of user surfing behavior. Three types of reports are prepared: user-based reports, path-based reports and group-based reports. In this paper, we describe the design of SpeedTracer and demonstrate some of its features with a few sample reports.

SPR online: creating, maintaining, and distributing a virtual professional society on the Internet.

SPR Online (http:@www.pedrad.org) is a recently developed digital representation of the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) that enables physicians to access pertinent information and services on the Internet. SPR Online was organized on the basis of the five main services of the SPR, which include Administration, Patient Care, Education, Research, and Meetings. For each service, related content from the SPR was digitized and placed onto SPR Online. Usage over a 12-month period was evaluated with server log file analysis. A total of 3,209 users accessed SPR Online, viewing 11,246 pages of information. A wide variety of information was accessed, with that from the Education, Administration, and Meetings services being the most popular. Fifteen percent of users came from foreign countries. As a virtual professional society, SPR Online greatly enhances the power and scope of the SPR and has proved to be a popular resource, meeting the diverse information needs of an international community of pediatric radiologists.

Mole: computer-supported collaborative learning

This paper gives an overview and initial evaluation of Mole: a novel system which combines exploratory learning with hypertext based material and collaborative learning through the use of annotations. A brief review of CAL and related collaborative learning systems is followed by a description of the Mole system. Mole was designed to enable learners to take an active role in their learning by facilitating in-line annotation of the hypertext notes. In addition it was designed to be easy to use with minimal authoring costs. Mole has been built around existing standards where possible. Hypertext documents are marked up in Hypertext Mark-up Language. Hypertext Transfer Protocol has been used as the basis for the client/server communications. Mole has been used to deliver class notes and practical exercises to two of the department's Scheme programming classes. A first year undergraduate class of 178 has used the system for a full academic year and a second year undergraduate class of 75 has used the system for one semester. An initial evaluation has been carried out. Feedback from students via a questionnaire was very positive and constructive. Analysis of the server's log file shows that most students made considerable use of Mole as a browser, far fewer made use of the annotation facility. Future work will explore the reasons for the limited use of this facility.