Log Analysis of Map-Based Web Page Search on Digital City Kyoto

This paper analyzes how people use map-based user interfaces of regional information systems on the Internet. The analysis is based on the log data of InfoMap, which is supplied on the Web site of the Digital City Kyoto prototype. InfoMap provides a map-based user interface that has useful functions enabling users to choose links to Web pages using digital maps. The log data of InfoMap was recorded automatically on the Web server and enabled us to analyze access frequencies, function usages, and content selections. In this paper, the characteristics of the map-based user interface compared with the characteristics of traditional text-based search engines are explained.