What Is Transaction Log Analysis?
Transaction log analysis (TLA) was developed about 25 years ago to evaluate system performance. Over the course of a decade, it evolved as a method to study unobtrusively interactions between online information systems and the people who use them. Today, it is also used to study use of Web sites. Researchers who conduct TLA rely on transaction monitoring software, whereby the system or Web server automatically records designated interactions for later analysis. Transaction monitoring records the type, if not the content, of selected user actions and system responses. For example, a user submits a query in the OPAC. Both the fact that a query was submitted and the content of that query could be recorded. In response, the system conducts a search and returns a list of results. Both the fact that results were returned and the number of results could be recorded. Transaction monitoring software often captures the date and time of these transactions, and the Internet Protocol (IP) address o
