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World Wide Web

WORLD WIDE WEB

Number of hits to U of S site increases to millions

Usage statistics are a key indicator of the increasing importance of the U of S Web site as a communication tool.

In March, 1994, the University's Web server (WWW) received 3,600 connections. Five years later, this number has increased to over 4,000,000 connections.

This last March, the University's eight main servers received almost 10,000,000 connections. A graph depicting these Web usage statistics is available at www.usask.ca/help/about.html

By clicking on the image, Web users can access a comprehensive spreadsheet that provides detailed statistics for each server.

Further information is available by clicking the Help link on the standard green menubar (located throughout the main institutional pages), and selecting "About the U of S CWIS."

Many campus site reports are compiled with "Analog," a Web statistics program.

On WWW alone, close to 100 distinct reports are generated for different areas of the campus-wide information system (CWIS). A partial list is located at www.usask.ca/analog/ .

The Analog reports provide a wealth of information to site maintainers, including monthly, daily, and hourly summaries of Web usage; distinct host and browser reports; lists of requested URLS (i.e. pages accessed most frequently); and lists of referring URLs (i.e. pages that provide links to your site).

If you're interested in generating similar reports for a particular Web site, contact Earl Fogel at earl.fogel@usask.ca

Although the number of connections does not equate to the number of Web visitors, this data does allow site maintainers to identify usage trends and key areas of information.

In accordance with the dramatic increase in Web usage, the CWIS continues to evolve in size and scope. To date, the University Web site consists of approximately 46,000 pages, housed on 58 institutional servers.

For more information, contact the U of S central webmasters at communications@usask.ca

- Corinne Szwydky

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