Web usage mining for the new seismic hazard map of Italy

Following the Ordinanza PCM 20 marzo 2003, n. 3274, a new seismic hazard map of Italy has been produced by a national Working Group at INGV. To fulfil the criterion of transparency of the compilation process, in July 2003 a dedicated web site was set up to disseminate information about the Ordinance itself, and make publicly available work in progress, procedures, input data and final results (http://zonesismiche.mi.ingv.it). An analysis of the web usage is presented for the period of one year and in particular after the publication of final results. This analysis was mainly performed on a statistical basis and it was integrated with ad hoc tools in order to provide a rough estimation of demographics. It represents a first step in the application of web usage mining techniques in order to measure success of information dissemination activities; it gives some preliminary indications about categories of web site visitors and their interests