Web Usage Mining: Discovery and Use of AIOU Web Usage Patterns

The technological revolutions have opened up new ways of information and communication. The Internet is growing as a vital source of information in this modern era of technology. The ever increasing volume of information through WWW is creating complexity in the design, development and deployment of WWW. It has become important for the organizations to analyze the usage of their web sites. The web usage analysis may help the organizations not only to monitor the load on their websites and cater for the needs of their potential clients but also enhance their web services and restructure the organization to better serve their clients. Web mining has emerged as important research areas used to discover information which can be utilized for improvement of websites. Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is one of the largest open and distant university of the world. Due to unique philosophy of open and distant learning, AIOU has been providing useful information online through its website. It is an active website which is flooded with huge flow of information. This paper presents web usage analysis of AIOU website and provides statistical analysis of the usage patterns. It presents how the results were used not only to enhance the web contents and services but also discusses how these results helped the university to allocate and reallocate its resources. The reallocation was used to improve efficiency and processes of the university in order to better serve its clients.