Beyond Browsing: Shared Comments, SOAPs, Trails, and On-line Communities
Spectrum: A Web-based tool for describing electronic resources
Using the Web as a Survey Tool: Results from the Second WWW User Survey
I can't find the abstracts for the earlier 2nd WWW conference, but I'm sure there a bunch of goodies there. And these are only published papers.
The CGI spec was defined and implemented (in NCSA httpd) in the late '93/early '94 timeframe by Rob McCool. The WHOLE purpose of CGI was to enable people to create "web applications". It is highly unlikely that there were no other "web applications" in the 18 months between the birth of CGI and Viaweb, considering the sheer amount of intellectual horsepower and entrepreneurial fervor at that time aimed at harnessing the net.
I think the claim is pretty shaky.
That said, you guys were definitely among the early pioneers. You built a great product and had a great exit. What more could you ask for? :)