Abstract
Although many researchers wishing to use the World-Wide Web for academic purposes rely on centralized Web services, they should be aware that it is neither expensive nor difficult to operate their own server. Doing so provides research-related benefits such as complete control over their host name and documents provided, the guaranteed ability to execute common gateway interface and server-side include programs, immediate access to their collected data, and the ability to better control who participates in their experiments. This paper surveys Web-server software features likely to be of interest to psychologists and conceptually summarizes their operation and use. The basic steps required to set up a Web server on popular microcomputers are reviewed, and security issues concerning Web-server operation are discussed. An accompanying resource Web page can assist users in setting up their own servers.
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The writing of this paper was supported by NSERC Canada and the Izzak Walton Killam Foundation. A page maintained by the first author containing all of the links to the resources referenced in this paper, as well as topically related links, can be found at http://or.psychology. dal.ca/~wcs/WebServerLinks.html.
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Schmidt, W.C., Hoffman, R. & Macdonald, J. Operate your own World-Wide Web server. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 29, 189–193 (1997). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204809
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204809