In the Northwind database, there is nifty little feature on the top left corner of the ribbon bar: a drop-down viewing history that lets you instantly access records you have visited (pictured left below).  This is not a "little" feature at all, as it involves complicated XML and VBA coding of the custom ribbon bar.  I find the ribbon to be an inconvenient location of this feature.  Also, it can only tracks activities on one form, the Orders form.  

So I set out to build my own (picture right below), which can track viewing history for multiple forms.  It is also placed on the form itself, which I find to be a better location.  It also lets me remove unwanted history items, which Northwind can't do.  The drop-down list is a subform/continuous form which can be hidden and shown.  The history list is sorted by the date and time an item was last visited.  The most recently visited items are at the top.  If an item on the history list is visited again, it is moved to the top, in real time.  The history list is refreshed every time an item is visited.  One tricky thing is deciding how long the user has to stay on an item before it is placed on the history list.  If the user looks at a record, doesn't see what he wants, and quickly moves to another record (say, within 1-2 seconds), then the record should not be placed in the history.

Someone in this forum actually asked about something like this.  He asked if a form could open up a previously viewed record directly.  Ironically, I said there was no need for that at the time, as a search function was all that was needed.  I have to take back what I said.  It is actually quite useful to have instant access to previously viewed records, because you can't beat instant.

I'm still working on some issues of this feature.  For instance, if you are on the order form, and you open up the history to access something on the customer form, this feature has to "take you" from one form to the other.  That may be simple in some scenarios, but it may not be in others.  What if your current form is modal and can't lose focus?  What if you're entering data in your current form?  It has to "clean up" whatever you're doing in your current form and move you to the other form that has the history item.  That may entail some complicated coding.

Richard, if you haven't done anything like this for your site, you may want to consider tackling this.