A system and method are provided for delivering batches of data to a client, while maintaining the client's state in the accessed database. The system and method eliminate the need for a web server to maintain the location of any given client within a database. Accordingly, the web server operates with greater efficiency, because it is freed from having to maintain the state of any given client within a database and need not create or maintain a partitioned database. Maximum and minimum values of any data previously requested and received by the client are maintained. These maximum and minimum values are later used within a novel set of Structured Query Language (SQL) statements to indicate the user's state within the database. By maintaining minimum and maximum reference values, the user's state within the accessed database can be maintained without storing any information on the web server. The next and previous batches are successfully obtained by comparing these stored reference values to the database so that the user can quickly move between adjacent batches of records. The invention provides a simple and elegant means for maintaining a user's state within a database, without requiring the use of a web server's resources or the creation of a partitioned database.