In information technology, history lists and bookmark lists provide quick means for users to access a web resource. A history list refers to a list of recently visited web sites by users. On the other hand, bookmark lists provide lists of the favorite web sites or sites that users often visit. In most cases, web browsers provide the history lists. This keeps track of sites that users have previously accessed. This differs from the bookmark list that users create at their own discretion.
Body
A history list contains a list of web pages a user has visited recently. This list has associated data that include the title of the page visited and time of the visit. The web browser software used records the lists as standard for a given period. The web browser software does this to provide users with a history list. The history lists enable users to access and go back to a given web sites or recently visited. In addition, the history lists enable users to rely on the web browsing history to access the previously visited sites rather than relying on their memory (Gosselin, 2010).
The history lists enable individuals to review and search through the web browsing history. This saves time when accessing information and web resources required urgently. Users use the history lists to access information that they have previously accessed. It also enables individuals to keep track of information and resources that they may resists. The history lists can enable parents to keep track of the sites that their children have accessed. This ensures that the children do not access undesirable sites. In addition, law enforcement officers can use history lists when carrying out investigations regarding sensitive information that users may have accessed without proper permission (Gosselin, 2010).
A bookmark is a saved link to a web page that an individual adds to a list of saved links. When individuals look at a Web site or a given homepage, they can create a bookmark for that page to get back to the site later. The names of bookmark lists differ depending on the browser used. While a bookmarks list is the name for Netscape Navigator hotlists, favorites folder is the hotlist name for Internet Explorer. These browsers have in built tools that manage the list of bookmarks. Therefore, the method of storing the bookmark lists depends on the browser and its operating system (Gosselin, 2010).
In most cases, the browsers contain millions of Web pages with information on a subject. People can choose from these sites favorite ones and keep their bookmarks. The list that contains the bookmarks is the bookmark list. In some cases, the bookmark list is also a hotlist. In particular, the list of frequently accessed web sites and documents constitutes the bookmark list.
The reasons behind keeping bookmarks range from enabling individuals keeping a list of favorite sites to enhancing easy access to the sites. The bookmarks provide a means for different users to share a given pool of web sites and resources. The users can arrange these bookmarks so that individuals can access them from any place when they save them in a remote Webserver. Some bookmarks lists can permit publication and printing of well-arranged catalogs if stored using the single HTML-coded file (Gosselin, 2010).
Conclusion
The memory of individuals cannot keep track of all web sites visited on any computer. Therefore, by history lists and bookmark lists, users keep track of the web sites and web sources that they have accessed. The bookmark lists provide a means of enhancing easy accessibility to web sites while the history lists provides a mechanism of accessing recently visited web pages.
Reference
Gosselin, D. (2010). Principles of HTML, XHTML, and DHTML. New York: Cengage Learning.
