The limits and limitations of transaction log analysis
| Date | 01 February 1993 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047888 |
| Published date | 01 February 1993 |
| Pages | 98-104 |
| Author | Martin Kurth |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
THE LIMITS AND LIMITATIONS OF
TRANSACTION LOG ANALYSIS
Martin Kurth
CONTENTS
Introduction
System Factors
User/Search Process Factors
Data Analysis Factors
Ethical and Legal Factors
Conclusion
Introduction
Since the earliest transaction monitoring studies,
researchers have encountered the boundaries that define
transaction
log
analysis as
a
methodology for studying
the use of online information retrieval systems. Be-
cause, among other reasons, transaction
log
databases
contain relatively few
fields
and lack sufficient retrieval
tools,
students of transaction log data have begun to
ask as many questions about what transaction logs
cannot reveal
as
they
have
asked about what transaction
logs can
reveal.
Researchers have conducted transaction
monitoring studies
to
understand
the
objective
phenome-
na embodied in this statement: "Library patrons enter
searches into online information retrieval systems."
Transaction log data effectively describe what searches
patrons enter and when they enter
them,
but they don't
reflect, except through inference, who enters the
searches, why they enter them, and how satisfied they
are with their results.
A statement such as "Transaction log data describe
the structure of online searches better than their
function" uses impressionistic terms to sketch an
absolute boundary or limit of transaction log analysis.
For
the
purposes of this discussion,
a
limit is
a
natural
or logical boundary of a phenomenon.1 The limits of
transaction log analysis have not often defined its
practice because, instead, the practice of transaction
log analysis has reflected that it is a product of our
world of scarce resources rather than some other ideal
world of abundance. Unfortunately, the practical
boundaries, or
limitations,
that such factors
as time and
Kurth
is head
serials
librarian,
University Libraries,
Eastern Washington University.
98 LIBRARY HI TECH —
MARTIN
KURTH—
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