An introduction to the special section on transaction log analysis
| Pages | 38-40 |
| Date | 01 February 1993 |
| Published date | 01 February 1993 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047883 |
| Author | Thomas A. Peters,Martin Kurth,Patricia Flaherty,Beth Sandore,Neal K. Kaske |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL SECTION
ON
TRANSACTION LOG ANALYSIS
Thomas A. Peters, Martin Kurth, Patricia Flaherty, Beth Sandore, and Neal K. Kaske
CONTENTS
A Working Definition of Transaction Log Analysis
What Constitutes a Transaction?
What Data Do Transaction Logs Contain?
What Does Analyzing Transaction Logs Entail?
Conclusion
To provide
a
background for this special section
on transaction log analysis, the following discussion
proposes a definition of transaction log analysis and
briefly introduces some of the issues involved in the
methodology.
A
Working Definition of Transaction Log Analysis
Transaction
log
analysis is
a
relatively new method
of recording and studying human behavior, usually,
but not necessarily, in an unobtrusive manner. Re-
searchers who conduct transaction log analyses rely
on the process of transaction monitoring, one compo-
nent of the more inclusive process of system monitor-
ing. Rice and Borgman define transaction monitoring,
which they call computer monitoring, "of an informa-
tion or communication system" as "the automatic
logging of the type, content, or time of transactions
made by a person from a terminal with that system."1
Transaction monitoring generates an output product
called a transaction log. According to Nielsen, a
transaction log "records onto a computer disk or tape
various aspects of
the
interaction that occurs between
a computer system and the human being using it."2
Library and information science researchers most often
study transaction logs extracted from computerized
information retrieval
(IR) systems such as
online public
access catalogs, databases of periodical citations and
abstracts, and full-text databases. For the purposes of
library and information science research, transaction
log analysis can be narrowly defined as the study of
electronically recorded interactions between online
information retrieval systems and the persons who
search for the information found in those systems.
Researchers most often use transaction log data
with the intention of improving the IR system, human
utilization of
the
system,
and human (and perhaps also
system) understanding of how the system is used by
information seekers. Transaction log analysis can
provide system designers and managers with valuable
information about how the system is being used by
actual users. It also can be used to study prototype
systems or potential system improvements.
In order to begin understanding the scope and
potential of transaction log analysis in library and
information science research, we can ask three ques-
tions basic to the
methodology:
First, what constitutes
a transaction? Second, what data do transaction logs
Peters is coordinator of collection development,
Mankato State University;
Kurth is head serials
librarian,
University Libraries, Eastern Washington University;
Flaherty
is a programmer/analyst working in systems
development for MSUS/PALS, an automated library
system serving 55 academic and state agency libraries
in Minnesota;
Sandore
is assistant automated services
librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Urbana, Illinois; and
Kaske
is program officer, Office
of Library Programs, U.S. Department of Education.
(Disclaimer: This article
was
written by the author in his
private
capacity.
No
official support or endorsement
by
the
U.S.
Department of Education is intended or should be
inferred.)
38 LIBRARY HI TECH — THOMAS A. PETERS/OTHERS -
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