Utah State UniversityDigitalCommons@USUInstructional Technology and Learning SciencesFaculty Publications Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences

5-1994

Results from the First World-Wide Web SurveyJames PitkowGeorgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

Mimi ReckerUtah State University

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Recommended CitationPitkow, J. & Recker, M. (1994). Results from the first World-Wide Web survey. Special issue of Journal of Computer Networks andISDN Systems, 27(2), 243-254.

ResultsFromTheFirstWorld‐WideWebUserSurveyJamesE.PitkowGraphics,Visualization,&UsabilityCenterGeorgiaInstituteofTechnologyAtlanta,GA30332‐0280MargaretM.ReckerCollegeofComputingGeorgiaInstituteofTechnologyAtlanta,GA30332‐0280ABSTRACTTheexplosionofWorld‐WideWeb(WWW)acrosstheInternetisstaggering,bothintermsofnumberofusersandtheamountofactivity.However,todate,noreliablecharacterizationexistsofWWWusers.Inthispaper,wereportresultsfromasurveythatwaspostedontheWebforamonth,inJanuaryof1994.Therewereseveralgoalsmotivatingoursurvey.First,wewishedtodemonstrateaproofofconceptforWWWtechnologiesasausefulsurveymedium.Second,wewantedtobeta‐testthedesignandcontentofsurveysdealingwiththeWeb.Third,asmentioned,wehopedtobegintodescribetherangeofWebusers.Inonemonth,wehadover4,700respondentstooursurvey.TheirresponseshelpedustobegintocharacterizeWWWusers,theirreasonsforusingtheWWW,andtheiropinionsofWWWtoolsandtechnologies.KEYWORDSstatistics,surveys,demographics,tools,administrationINTRODUCTIONAccordingtorecentestimates,theInternetisgainingroughly150,000newuserspermonth,joining20millionexistingInternetusers[NewYorkTimes,1993].Atthesametime,thenumberofWWWpacketsisgrowingexponentially.WhilethesenumbersprovideusefulapproximationsontheamountofusersandtheirWeb‐relatedactivities,littleisknownabouttheirbackgrounds,interests,andcharacteristics.Inthispaper,wereportresultsfromasurveythatwaspostedontheWebforamonth,inJanuaryof1994.Therewereseveralgoalsmotivatingoursurvey.First,wewishedtodemonstrateaproofofconceptforWWWtechnologiesasausefulsurveymedium.Second,wewantedtobeta‐testthedesignandcontentofsurveysdealingwiththeWeb.Third,asmentioned,wehopedtobegintodescribetherangeofWebusers.Inonemonth,wehad4,777respondentstooursurvey.TheirresponseshelpedustobegintocharacterizeWWWusers,theirreasonsforusingtheWWW,andtheiropinionsofWWWtoolsandtechnologies.However,aswewilldiscuss,these

responsesarerepresentativeofaparticularclassofWWWusers,andthereforecannotyetbegeneralizedtothegeneralWWWpopulation.Forthisreason,weplantoimprovethesurveyandrunitperiodicallyintheupcomingyears.ThiswillallowustotrackchangesinthepopulationasWWWevolvesandmatures.Furthermore,thesurveyresultswillhelpusextrapolatetothegeneralInternetpopulation.METHODUsingtheInternettosurveyusersisnotnew.However,theproblemwithmostofthesesurveyshastypicallybeenaninadequatelevelofparticipation.Webelievethatthelackofrespondentsisprimarilyduetotheoverheadincurred.Thatis,mostsurveysasktheuserstoreporttheirresponsesviaelectronicmail.Forexample,asurveyonWWWtechnologiesthatrequirede‐mailresponseswaspostedtocomp.infosystems.wwwinlateJanuary1994.Theresultsofthesurveyrevealedthatonlyfifty‐fiveresponsesweregathered.Whilesurveysofthistypearemoreeffectivethanconventionalmailorphone,theystillrequireconsiderableend‐usereffort,whichoughttobeavoidedifpossible.Fortunately,thelevelofclientinteractivitysupportedbyHypertextMarkupLanguagePlus[HTML+],i.e.forms,issufficienttoenablelow‐overhead,pointandclickresponses,aswellastextentry.FurtherenhancingtheattractivenessofusingWWWWtechnologiesistheHypertextTransferProtocol[HTTP]server'sabilitytoretrievedocuments(theactualsurveys)andexecuteprograms(responseloggingsoftware).Thus,notonlyareusersabletorespondtosurveysinanintuitive,non‐laborintensivemanner,buttheresultscanbeloggedautomaticallyviatheHTTPserver.ThedesignofoursurveyattemptedtoexploitWWWtechnologies.Specifically,wecreatedfiveseparatesurveys(withquestionsongeneralbackground,HTML,HTTP,Mosaic,andWWWBrowser/InternetUsage)andrudimentaryloggingsoftware.Thedecisiontocreateseparatesurveyswasmadeforseveralreasons.First,wewanteduserstobeabletocompleteeachsurveyinthreetofiveminutes.Ifwehadcreatedonesurveywithallthequestions,wefeltthatusersmighthavebeenlesslikelytotakethetimenecessarytocompletetheentiresurvey.Second,WWWbrowserslikeMosaichavedifficultymanagingdocumentswithlargenumberofembeddedforms.Weintentionallydesignedthesurveystominimizethenumberofembeddedforms(butstillreceivedcommentsfromusersthatdisplayproblemsinterferedwiththeoverallaestheticsandeffectivenessofthesurvey).Finally,categorizingquestionsfacilitatedclarityofintention.Thatis,theusersknewbefore‐handtheareaeachsurveywasintendedtocoverandthereforedidnotendupmidwaythroughsurveysfindingthemselvesunabletoanswerquestions.Theloggingsoftwareparsedtheuser'sresponsesandappendtheresultstofile.Eachentryinthelogswastimecoded,butmachinenameswerenotrecorded.Whilethismethodensuredamoderatedegreeofanimity(correlationsbetweenthetimeloggedandthetimesrecordedbytheserverlogcanstillbederived)itprimarilyresultedfromtheuseofNationalCenterforSupercomputingApplications'(NCSA)

httpd_1.0a5server,whichdoesnotpassremotehostinformationintothesub‐shell'senvironment.Asstatedabove,thesurveysweredividedintofivecategories:1)generalbackgroundquestions,2)HTMLquestions,3)HTTPquestions,4)Mosaicquestions,and5)WWWBrowser/Internetusage.WefeltthatthisstratificationwassufficienttohelpuscharacterizeWWWusers,theirreasonsforusingtheWWW,andtheiropinionofWWWtoolsandtechnologies.ThesurveysprimarilyusedHTML+forms.Specifically,radiobutton(buttonsthatonlyallowoneanswertobeselectedperquestion)wereusedtolistavailablechoicesorcorrespondedtonumericalratings.Weintentionallydesignedasfewquestionsaspossiblethatrequiredtextentryasthisimposesgreaterdemandsontheend‐useranddecreasescontroloverofthecontentoftheresponses.ThesurveywasofficiallyannouncedonJanuary17th,1994,onthecomp.infosystems.wwwnewsgroup.Thepostingsimplystatedtheimpetusbehindthesurvey(i.e.,toprovidethecommunitywithacharacterizationofWWWusers)andthelocationviatheUniformResourceLocator[URL]ofthesurvey.SubsequentnoticesweremailedtoNCSA'sWhatNewPagemaintainersandthemaintainersoftheWWWserveratCERNduetothehighvisibilityoftheseservers.SeveralpointersfromotherdocumentsontheWebwerealsoobserved.SURVEYQUESTIONSTheGeneralInformationSurvey(11questions)askedquestionsthatinvolvednopriorknowledgeofWWWtechnologies.Wemainlyaskedquestionssuchasuserage,occupation,domain,geographicallocation,andcomputerplatformandusage.Aswithalltheothersurveys,acommentboxwaslocatedattheendofthesurveyforuserstocontributewhateverinformationtheythoughtrelevant.TheHTMLSurvey(12questions)wasintendedtocharacterizehowdifficultHTMLisforuserstolearnanduse.QuestionaskedrespondentsaboutthenumberofHTMLdocumentsauthored,whetherornottheyknewifHTMLwasanInternationalStandardsOrganization(ISO)standard(HTMLisnotanISOstandard),howdifficult/easytheyfoundittolearnFORMandISMAP,andifthedocumentationonHTMLwascurrentandeasytounderstand.Wealsoaskedbackgroundquestionsinquiringaboutthenumberofyearsofprogrammingexperience,andthenumberoflanguagesknown.AnadditionalquestionwasaddedonJan21,1994.ItaskedwhetherornotusershadpriorexperiencewithStandardGeneralizedmarkupLanguage(SGML)(fromwhichHTMLisderived).TheHTTPSurvey(14questions)wasprimarilydesignedtodeterminetheextentofknowledgepeoplehaveaboutHTTP.Hence,respondentsfoundquestionsaskingaboutwhethertheyknewaboutserverscripts,modules,CGIscripts,andISMAPsandiftheyhadusedanyofthesemethods.Wealsoaskedifrespondentsoperatedaserver(andifso,whichoneandwhatportitlistenedto).Userswerealsoaskedto

rate,ifapplicable,theexistingserversatthetime(CERN,Gn,NCSA,andPlexus)onascalefromonetonine.TheMosaicSurvey(5questions)wasintendedtogainfeedbackfromusersofNCSA'sMosaic.Thisquestionnairewastheshortestofallthesurveys,(wehadaskedthestaffatNCSAtosubmitadditionalquestions).Basically,wewishedtoknowwhatplatformsusersprimarilyused(thisquestionwasheavilybiased‐seeDiscussionbelow),whatratingtheywouldassigntoMosaic,howtheyperceivedthesupportstaffatNCSA,andhowhelpfultheyfoundtheon‐linehelp.TheWWWBrowser/InternetUsageSurvey(20questions)soughttofindoutmoreabouthowandwhypeopleusetheirWWWbrowser.Thiscategorywasbrokendownintofivesubcategories:frequency,motivation,typicalactivities,mediatypeassessment,andgeneralusagetraits.Thefirsttwocategoriesareself‐explanatory,whiletheothersmightrequiresomeexplanation.SinceWWWbrowsersallowaccesstoalmostallInternetresources,wewereinterestedinthedegreetowhichthesebrowsersarereplacingtheclientsoftwaredesignedforeachindividualresource.Hence,weaskedquestionsonbrowserusetoaccessofgopher,archie,FTP,wais,etc.,aswellasquestionsonuseforexplorationandaccessingothernon‐traditionalresources(e.g.,weather).Forthemediatypeassessment,wewishedtodeterminemediapreferences.Thesurveysusedradioandcheckboxbuttonsforquestionsaddressingmotivation,frequency,andgeneralusagetraits,andusedscalarradiobuttonsforthetypicalactivitiesandmediaassessmentquestions.(1)RESULTSOverall,therewere4,853responsestoallsurveyscombined.Becauseourdesigndidnotensurethatonlyonesurveywassubmittedperuser,wedevelopedsoftwaretoidentifymultiplesubmissions.Withthislist,wemanuallywentthroughandcomparedthetimeofsubmissionsandifnecessary,thecontentofeachsubmission.Thatis,iftwosurveyswerereceivedwithinafifteen‐minuteperiod,thecontentwasinspectedfordifferencesinresponses.Thismethodisbothtimeconsumingandvulnerabletoerror.Inall,therewere1006submissionsreceivedfromidenticalmachines.Fromthis,wediscarded76responses,orsevenandahalfpercentfromduplicatemachines(oroneandahalfpercentofthe4,777netresponses)(2).Inaddition,sinceourdesignacceptedpartiallycompletedsurveys,thenumberofresponsesgatheredforeachquestionfrequentlydifferwithinsurveys.Inthenextsection,wediscussthefindingsfromeachsurvey,followedbyadiscussionoftheseresults.GENERALUSAGETherewereover1344validresponsesinthissurveycategory,accountingfor28%ofalltheresponses.Itisimportanttonotethattheabovenumberrepresentsthetotalnumberofpeoplewhocompletedthesurvey,butaspreviouslymentioned,thisdoesnotmeanthattherewerethatnumberofresponsesforeachquestion.

Theresultsindicatethat56%ofrespondentsarebetweentheagesof21and30,94%aremale,and69%arelocatedinNorthAmerica.Over97%percentreportusingMosaicastheirbrowsingtool,88%percentuseUNIXastheirplatform,and55%usesingle‐usermachines(though,aswediscussintheShortcomingssection,thelatterresultsmustbeinterpretedwithcare)(seeTable1).Intermsofoccupation,45%oftherespondentsdescribethemselvesasprofessionals,and22%asgraduatestudents(thetwolargestcategories).Thirty‐sixpercentoftherespondentsclaimtospendover10hours/weekexploringtheInternet,while42%claimtospend0to5hours/week.OfinteresttoenterprisescontemplatingcommercialuseoftheInternet,55%oftherespondentssaytheymightbewillingtopayfeesforaccesstoWWWinformationrepositories,while40%saytheywouldnot(seeTable1).BROWSERUSAGETherewereover1000validresponsestoquestionsregardingbrowseruseandactivities(seeTables8and9).Amajorityofusersaccesstheirbrowsersseveraltimesdaily;41%saytheyspendless5hoursperweekexploringtheInternet,while21%claimtospendmorethan10hoursperweek.Usersseemtobefairlyevenlydividedintheirorientation,with28%preferringsearchmode,38%preferringtextmode,and33%preferringvisualmode(seeTable9).WesurveyedusersastohowoftentheyusedtheirWWWbrowser,insteadofaccessingspecificclientservices(e.g.,Wais,FTP,etc.),where1="never"and9="always."Theresultsindicatethat,overall,usersshowastrongpreferenceforusingtheirWWWbrowserforgeneralInternetexplorationandinsteadofthestandardGopherandWaisclients.TheyshowaslightpreferenceforusingaWebbrowserfortextretrievalandArchieservices.TheyareneutralintheirpreferenceforusingWWWbrowserstoaccesspublisherinformation,weather,andnewsofresearchactivitiesandabstracts(seeTable8).Finally,weaskeduserstoratetheirpreferencesofthevariousmediasupportedbytheWeb.Usersshowastrongpreferenceforkeywordsearchandembeddedimages.Theyshowapreferencefortextandspawnedimages,andaslightpreferenceformoviesandsounds(seeTable8).HTMLPATTERNSThesurveyonHTMLwasansweredby701people.Table2.presentstheactualnumberofresponsesperquestionaswellasthepercentpercategorywithineachquestion.Interestingly,slightlyover50%oftheusershaveauthoredovertenHTMLdocuments,while7%haveneverauthoredaHTMLdocument.Justthesame,whileahandful(3%)incorrectlyansweredthatHTMLwasanISOstandard,mostrespondents(66%)wereunsure.Mostpeople(77%)hadovertenyearsofprogrammingexperienceandknewsixtotenprogramminglanguages(41%).Thelate‐entryquestiononpriorSGMLuseindicatesthat91%oftheusershadneverusedSGMLbefore.

HTTPPATTERNSTheHTTPwastheleastansweredsurvey(10%ofthetotalresponses),withonly481peoplesubmittingresponses(seeTable4forthefrequencyandpercentinformation)Mostusersoperatedaserver(78%),withNCSA'sserverbeingthemostwidelyoperated(71%),andport80(78%)themostlistenedtoport.Notethatthetotalnumberofresponsesdifferforeachofthesequestions,socaremustbetakenincross‐questioncomparisons.Eventhough58%knewwhatserverscriptsare(41%haveknowledgeofCGIscripts),mosthaveneverwrittenaCGIscriptorusedISMAPs.Finally,outofthepeoplewhohadusedthedifferentservers(CERN,Gn,NCSA,Plexus),thehighestmeanrating,7.5(ona0to9pointscale),wenttoNCSA'sserver,thoughnoserverreceivedaratingbelow5.8(samescale).MOSAICPATTERNSTherewere1079responsestotheMosaicsurvey.Notsurprisingly,mostusers(93%)wereusingMosaicfortheUNIXplatform(seeTable6),duetotheunavailabilityofHTML+formssupportinMacintoshandDOS/Windowsenvironments.OverathirdreportedneverusingtheitemscontainedinMosaic'sHelpmenuwhileroughly30%usedtheHelpmenuonaweeklyormonthlybasis.Only7%foundtheon‐linehelponMosaictobenotuseful,withtherestsplitbetweenconsideringthehelpuseful(52%)andsomewhatuseful(40%).ThemeanratingofMosaicwas8.086(samescaleasabove)withthesupportstaffatNCSAreceivingameanratingof7.458.USERPATTERNSThesurveyresultsallowedustoidentifypatternsorclustersamongusers'preferencesandactivities,usingthelikelihoodratiochi‐squaretestandCramerstatistic(G2andC).FromtheGeneralSurvey(seeTable10),wenoteastronginteractionbetweensharedmachinesandtheoccupationoftheusers(G2(6)=199.290,p<.001;C(6)=.388),withmoreuserssharingmachinesintheeducationalenvironmentsandlessintheprofessionalenvironments.Wealsoobserveaninteractionbetweensharedmachinesandtheusersage(G2(6)=122.729,p<.001;C(6)=.306),withyoungerusersmorelikelytosharemachinesthanolderusers.Ascanbeexpectedfortheaboveinteractions,wefindthatoccupationisassociatedwithuserage(G2(36)=835.563,p<.001,C(36)=.326),reflectingtheyoungerresponsesfromstudents.Mildinteractionsexistbetweensharedmachinesandwillingnesstopayfees,withsharedmachineuserslesswillingtopayforfeesandsinglemachineuserswillingtopayfeesforWWWdatabaseaccesses.Interestingly,wenoteaslightinteractionbetweenuseroccupationsandfees(G2(12)=52.816,p<.001;C(12)=.141),wherestudentswouldnotpayforaccessandprofessionalswould.TheanalysesoftheHTMLsurveyofferlessinsight.Here,wenotethatthenumberofyearsprogramminginteractsstronglywiththenumberofprogramminglanguagesknown(G2(16)=733.633,p<.001;C(16)=.514).Thisfollowsintuition,asuserswithfewyearsprogrammingknowfewlanguagesanduserswithovertwelveyears

programmingcorrespondtoknowledgeofovertwelvelanguagesknown.AmoderateinteractionwasobservedbetweenthenumberofHTMLdocumentsauthoredanduncertaintyofwhetherHTMLisanISOstandard(G2(8)=61.080,p<.001;C(8)=.210).NumerousinteractionsexistbetweenthequestionsintheHTTPsurvey,though,mostareasexpected(seeTable14).Ofnote,wefoundastronginteractionbetweenknowledgeofISMAPsandISMAPuse(G2(2)=277.407,p<.001;C(2)=.774)alongwithknowledgeofCGIscriptsandCGIscriptuse(G2(2)=155.007,p<.001;C(2)=.582).Asexpectedthen,knowledgeofserverscriptsrelatestoknowledgeanduseofCGIscriptsandISMAPs,withthelatterhavingaslightlyweakerassociation.Similarly,weobservethatoperatingaserverinteractsmoderatelywithknowledgeanduseofCGIscriptsandISMAPs.AnalysisoftheMosaicsurvey(seeTable13)revealedthatthoseuserswhousedtheHelpmenuonaweeklybasisweremoreinclinedtoviewtheon‐linehelponMosaicasuseful(G2(6)=124.135,p<.001;C(6)=.244).IntermsoftheUsageSurvey(seeTable14),themostfrequentWebusersappearedtoexploretheInternetthemost(G2(10)=312.501,p<.001;C(10)=.370).Althoughamildinteraction,wenotethatasthepreferenceforusingWebbrowsersforInternetexplorationincreased,usersappearedtoprefertext‐basedsearch;aspreferenceforusingWebbrowsersforInternetexplorationdecreased,userspreferredkeywordsearch(G2(4)=312.501,p<.001;C(4)=.103).SURVEYSHORTCOMINGSANDPLANNEDIMPROVEMENTSTherewereseveralprobleminoursurveymethodsthatweplantocorrectinfutureruns.Forexample,weencounteredatrade‐offbetweenkeepingthequestionsconciseandremovingambiguity.Inthegeneralsurvey,onequestionaskedthenameofthedomaintowhichtheuserbelongs.Whileourintentionwastoclassifytheusersbaseduponeducational,commercial,military,government,etc.categories.itbecameapparentthattherespondents,especiallythosenotfromtheUnitedStates,wereunclearastowhetherwewereinquiringabouttheirdomain(i.e.,DNS)ortheirworkactivity.Also,withourintentionofcreatingeasytouse,point‐and‐clicksurveys,weoptedtouseradiobuttonsinsteadoftext‐entryfields.Whilethispermittedlessuseroverhead,itconstrainedsomeuserresponsesbyforcingthemtoanswer"other&quot;or"somewhat,"oftentimesinappropriately.Weplantoremedytheseproblemsinfuturereleasesbyworkingcloselywithsurveyexperts.Wealsoencountereddifficultieswithkeepingtrackofusersacrosssurveys.ThisproblemresultsmostlyfromthestatelessnatureoftheHTTPprotocol.Thatis,theserverdoesnotkeeptrackofwhatmachineaccessedwhichdocuments;thisisonlyloggedtofile.ThismeantthatwewereunabletotaketheanswerssubmittedbyauserfortheGeneralSurveyandperformanalysesagainstquestionsintheothersurveys.Hence,wecouldnottestforpossibleinteractionsliketheageoftheusersandusermediaorientation.Thereareseveralwayswhichwecanavoidthisissuein

thefuture.Onemethodwouldbetohaveeachuserprovideauniquekeyuponstartingthefirstsurvey,andthenusethiskeyforsubsequentsubmissions.Hence,allresponsestothesurveyscouldbeloggedwithauniquekeyforeachuser.Thiswouldenablethecross‐questionanalyseswedesire.Thismethodaddsadditionalburdentousersbymakingthemresponsibleforrememberingthekeyforfuturesurveys(whichmaybecompletedseveraldayslater).AnothermethodwouldextensivelyutilizetheabilityofHTTPserverstoexecuteprograms.Underthisscheme,aprogramwouldproducethedesiredsurveyandattachahiddenkeywiththesurvey.Uponreceivingthecompletedsurvey,theprogramwouldcreateanothersurveyand,again,encodeakeywithinthedocument.Aswiththepreviousmethod,cross‐surveyquestionanalysisisenabled,butthistime,weimposeapotentiallyseveretimeconstraintontheuser,i.e.,thetimetocompleteallthesurveys.Ifauserdecidestostopparticipatinginthecurrentlyreturnedsurvey,anyfuturesubmissionswillrequirecompletere‐entryofallsurveys,whichisundesirable.Finally,HTTPcouldbemodifiedtomakeitintoastatemachine,thoughthelikelihoodofthishappeningisuncertain.Similarserverrelatedproblemsoccurifweacceptonlyfullycompletedsurveys.Whilewegainfromhavingconsistentnumberofresponsestoeachquestionineachsurvey,wewouldhavetodevelopsoftwarethatcheckedeachanswer,andcreatedanadditionaldocumentcontainingthequestionsthatwerenotanswered.Thesoftwarewouldalsohavetokeeptrackofthepreviousanswersand,oncetheotheranswersweresuccessfullyreturned,mergetheresultsintooneentry.Wewillmostlikelyimplementthismethodinfuturesurveys.Inaddition,atthetimeofoursurvey,fewbrowsersandplatformssupportedtheHTML+formsextension.Thus,ourresultsarebiasedinfavorofthosethatdidsupportForms(i.e.,XMosaicforUNIX).Presently,moreplatformsandbrowserssupporttheextension,thusweexpecttoeliminatethebiaswithsubsequentsurveyruns.Afinalbiasisduetoasamplingproblem,thatis,theself‐selectednatureofsurveyrespondents.Clearly,frequentWebusersweremorelikelytoansweroursurvey,andhenceskewtheresults.Wehopethatfuturedeploymentsofthesurveywillbegintoattractresponsesfromless‐frequentusers,andtherebyallowustocharacterizethechangingWebuserpopulation.GiventhedynamicnatureofWWWuseandtechnologies,webelievethatsurveysruntwiceayearoughttoprovideanoptimaltrade‐offbetweenmaintainingrespondentsfromsurveytosurveyandchartingtheWeb'sgrowthandchanges.Inaddition,wehopethattheWWWcommunitywillallowustoremainthesoleWebsurveyorsinthisdomain.WefearthatifotherresearcherscluttertheWebwithsimilarsurveys,theoverallutilityofsuchsurveyswillbegreatlydiminished.Inlightofsucharequesttothecommunity,wegladlyopenourselvestosuggestionsandspecificresearchagendasofotherresearchers.

CONCLUSIONInthispaper,wereportedresultsfromasurveyofWorldWideWebusers.Asshownbythehighnumberofsurveyrespondents,wedemonstratedtheviabilityofusingtheWebandHTML+formsforconductingon‐linesurveys.Inaddition,ourresultsservedtobegintodescribetherangeofWebusers,theiractivities,andpreferences.Inthefuture,weplantodeployoursurveyeverysixmonths.WebelievethatthiswillbeausefulmeansfortrackingthegrowthandchangesinWebusesandpopulation.REFERENCES"AGrowingInternetisTryingtoTakeCareofBusiness",NewYorkTimes,December12,1993,pageF7.Berners‐Lee,T.(1994)HypertextMarkupLanguagePlus.URL:http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/HTMLPlus/htmlplus_1.htmlBerners‐Lee.T.(1993)HypertextTransferProtocol.InternetEngineeringTaskForceWorkingDraft,5Nov1993.URL:ftp://ds.internic.net/internet‐drafts/draft‐ietf‐iiir‐http‐00.txtBerners‐Lee,T.(1994)UniformResourceLocators.InternetEngineeringTaskForceWorkingDraft,21March1994.URL:ftp://ds.internic.net/internet‐drafts/draft‐ietf‐uri‐url‐03.txtRagget,D.(1994)HypertextMarkupLanguagePlus.URL:ftp://ds.internic.net/internet‐drafts/draft‐raggett‐www‐html‐00.txtAUTHORINFORMATIONJAMESPITKOWreceivedhisB.A.inComputerScienceApplicationsinPsychologyfromtheUniversityofColoradoBoulderin1993.HeisagraduatestudentintheCollegeofComputingatGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology.Hisresearchinterestsincludeusermodeling,adaptiveinterfaces,andusability.MIMIRECKERreceivedherPh.D.fromtheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,in1992.SheiscurrentlyaResearchScientistintheCollegeofComputingattheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology.Herresearchinterestsincludecognitivescienceapproachestolearning,met‐cognition,instruction,interactivelearningenvironments,human‐computerinteraction,cognitivemodelingandmultimedia.

Footnotes(1)TheactualquestionnairesinHTML+formareavailablevia:http://www.gatech.edu/pitkow/survey/survey‐1‐1994/index.html.PostscriptandASCIIversionsareaccessibleviaanonymousftpfrom:ftp.cc.gatech.eduin/pub/gvu/www/pitkow/survey/survey‐1‐1994.Allthecommentscollectedfromthesurveysareaccessiblevia:http://www.gatech.edu/pitkow/survey/survey‐1‐1994/comments/.(2)Specifically,29responsesfromtheGeneralSurvey,5fromtheHTMLSurvey,27fromtheHTTPSurvey,11fromtheMosaicSurvey,and4fromtheWWWBrowsersUsageSurveywereremovedfromfurtherprocessing.