Paul Collins and George Neisser facilitated a discussion group on “Caching” at the IWMW 1997 event.
This discussion group was chaired by George Neisser. The Reporter was Paul Collins, University of Keele. Ten participants attended this discussion group.
Summary of discussions:
- Caching will be of increasing importance (cf. charging for US link).
- Need to have statistics.
- HENSA cache lost credibility – the new national caching service must address this.
- Need to provide cache configuration files for use within the community and advice on configuration options.
- Need to encourage community to use email lists.
- Need for each institute to have cache expert / liaison person.
- Need to pass on advice within institutions.
- Need for a FAQ.
- Need for involvement with Netskills – Justin McNeil informed the group that Netskills were working on this.
A couple of questions / comments were raised:
Q. How often are pages in cache updated?
A. This depends on cache configuration, browser in use etc. 30 mins to a few days.
Q. Caching can slow things down.
A. A response to this should be included in a FAQ.