» Server logs
» Summary
Because of its relative usefulness, we continue to use this data;
however, the particular problems of this assessment tool point us
once again to a multimodal approach, one that combines different
assessments. Not only are additional assessments needed for greater
accuracy, but numerical data can only tell a writing program so
much--pages are being requested, but are they having any impact?
Regardless, server log analysis retains advantages, disadvantages,
and value:
Advantages
- Often already available from the university's web servers, and
often in numerical and graphical formats.
- Requires no changes to the code of a site.
- Generates detailed statistics on page requests from the server.
Disadvantages
- Cannot be taken as a measure of actual visitors.
- Cannot indicate the impact of pages requested.
Value
- Like tracking services, server logs provide the kind of assessment
readily recognized by funding audiences while offering the writing
program an overall assessment of how the site is being accessed
from the server.
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