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Introduction The central goal of transaction log analysis is to acquire new knowledge, which will help library managers, systems designers/developers, and researchers better understand how online information systems are used by library patrons and staffs. This knowledge can then be used to improve library services and operations through better designed systems and better allocation (or reallocation) of library resources. An example of reallocation of resources is changing schedules of public service staff to more closely match when and where patrons need help (e.g., in nonfiction, on weekends) and the relocation of terminals to where they are needed the most (e.g., to the science reference area). The system's resources (access points, online storage, databases) can also be distributed for the most effective and efficient operations through the use of transaction log data. A clearer understanding of human/computer interaction within the library setting can also be used to improve the design and utilization of other online systems and services used within libraries and other organizations.

The general purpose for the II‐A program is to assist college and university libraries in acquiring technological equipment and in conducting research in information technology. This is done mainly through accessing and sharing of library and information resources across institutional lines. The Department of Education discretionary grant cycle, from legislation through close‐out, is presented, as is an overview of each step. The clearest trend in the Research and Demonstra‐tion projects proposed under the II‐A program is toward the development and testing of the “virtual library” or aspects of it.

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.

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.

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.

Since the late 1970s TLA has maintained its role as the most dependable method for unobtrusive observation of IR system use, although the analysis of transaction logs remains a labor‐intensive practice. The difficult nature of TLA has undoubtedly hampered interest in its development and refinement into a useful method for analyzing user interaction with online systems. However, the means to realize the full potential of this powerful tool are now within the realm of computing and information science research. The goal of this paper is to create an increased awareness of TLA and research efforts using TLA methodologies.

The ability to conduct unobtrusive observation of user searching is a potential strength of the method of information retrieval system analysis known as transaction log analysis (TLA). Transaction logs supply unequivocal information about what a user typed while searching. All other methods rely on self‐reporting, which, as Nielsen points out, is not always corroborated by the logs. Regardless of where in an institution information retrieval (IR) system evaluation takes place, TLA is a method that enables library staff at all levels to examine a variety of system and user‐related activities that are recorded on the log. Dominick suggested that TLA can enable the examination of three broad categories of activity: 1) system performance and resource utilization, 2) information retrieval performance, and 3) user interaction with the IR system. This article has been divided into several sections corresponding to functional areas in a library to suggest useful applications of TLA.

Algermissen, Virginia, Penny Billings, Sandra Grace, Barbara Guidry, and John Blair. “Subminute Telefacsimile for ILL Document Delivery.” Information Technology and Libraries, I (Sept., 1982), 274–5.

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. Because, 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 phenomena 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.