Summary: A Decision­theoretic Approach for Pre­sending
Information on the WWW
A.E. Nicholson, I. Zukerman, D.W. Albrecht
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Monash University
Clayton, VICTORIA 3168, AUSTRALIA
fdwa,annn,ingridg@csse.monash.edu.au
Abstract. We present a decision­theoretic model which determines whether
to pre­send web documents a user is likely to request. Our model bal­
ances the cost of transmitting information with the inconvenience or cost
to a user caused by having to wait for required information. It uses a
Markov model built from web­access data to predict which documents
are likely to be requested next. A comparative evaluation of our pre­
sending scheme identifies circumstances in which our scheme is beneficial
for users.
1 Introduction
Users typically have to wait for information they require from the World Wide
Web (WWW). If the waiting time is excessive, this results in increased costs
and user dissatisfaction, and, for work­related tasks, loss of productivity. The
aim of this research is to develop a system that reduces a user's expected wait­

Source: Albrecht, David - Caulfield School of Information Technology, Monash University

Collections: Computer Technologies and Information Sciences