Message-Id: <199601312016.OAA24660@library.wustl.edu> Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 12:11:27 -0800 From: Andrzej Kowalski <mailto:andrzej@DINGO.COM> Subject: Re: Search History To: Multiple recipients of list WEBCAT-L <mailto:WEBCAT-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
Our KE Texpress engine automagically maintains an audit database in KE Texpress format of every type of database transaction (query, update etc.), search terms, number of matching records, size of document delivered, user info and so on. This allows us to keep and reconstruct search histories through web forms. I believe we could even use it save sets of matching records. Since this is handled through the high speed Texpress database engine (written in C/C++), there is no issue of resource-intensive CGI-scripting.Andrzej Kowalski
At 10:33 01/31/96 -0600, you wrote: >One disadvantage I can see of using a web search engine is that there
>is, to the best of my knowledge, no way to have a search history
>capability. With a dedicated Z39.50 client it is easy to keep old
>search commands (even from session to session) and even sets from
>previous searches.
>
>Does anyone know of any web catalog searching sites that prove me
>wrong? I suppose a CGI-bin script could be set up that would save old
>searches within a single session, but that sounds to me like a very
>large use of resources on the server side, when clients that do the
>same thing could spread the load around to people's desktops.
>
>What do people think?
>
>--
>John D. Boggs \ The great thing about human language is
>Circulation Librarian & \ that it prevents us from sticking to
>Associate System Administrator \ the matter at hand. -Lewis Thomas
>Bush Memorial Library, Hamline University. mailto:jdboggs@piper.hamline.edu
>
################ Andrzej Kowalski Vancouver, BC, Canada Dingo Software Systems Inc. Tel: (604) 877-1960 mailto:andrzej@dingo.com Fax: (604) 877-1961 http://www.dingo.comFast and flexible data retrieval from data collections of all sizes in-house and on the WWW with the KE Texpress object oriented database. ###############