A web log analysis of the online NSW Public Health Bulletin for 2001-2003

The web logs of the online version of the NSW Public Health Bulletin were analysed to understand the patterns of use. Twenty-nine months of data, for the period January 2001 to May 2003, were extracted from archived files stored by the NSW Department of Health. HTML and PDF hits were included; other types of hits, for example image hits, were not. Five potentially useful variables were identified: Internet protocol address; date of access; time of access; document accessed; and means of access. There were 384,887 hits during the period, approximately 442 per day. The rate of hits per month increased from 8288 in 2001 to 21,288 in 2003. The PDF version was used more than the HTML version. Examination of HTML hits revealed how different parts of the Bulletin were being used. This information provides evidence to inform planning.