Changeability of Web objects - browser perspective

Abstract

The paper examines the usefulness of the browser cache for studying the properties of Web objects. The cache contains detailed, personalized data on a user interaction with the Web during the period covering a few previous weeks. The data could be used for a variety of purposes including adaptive systems but the paper concentrates on the objects' changeability. Precise knowledge about the scope and nature of the changeability enables us to estimate the upper limit of caching efficiency, no matter what algorithms are used. Caching reduces both the volume of the traffic and the perceived latency. The paper discusses the results of an experiment and suggests other areas in which the data extracted from the local Internet buffer may be useful.