Definition - What does Hypertext mean?

 A hypertext is a non-linear text that connects various elements (nodes, pages)

through links.

 “Hypertext is text with links, or pointers, showing relationships between parts of

the information. Hypermedia extends this concept - information with links - to
collections including text, audio, video, photographs, or any multisensory
combination” (Alessi & Trollop, 2001:138).

 From the Wikipedia: “ In computing, hypertext is a user interface paradigm for

displaying documents which, according to an early definition (Nelson 1970),
"branch or perform on request." The most frequently discussed form of hypertext
document contains automated cross-references to other documents called
hyperlinks. Selecting a hyperlink causes the computer to load and display the
linked document.”

 Hypertext is not just HTML.

 Hypertext systems allow users to author, edit and follow links between different
bodies of text. Hypermedia systems, are similar to hypertext systems, except that
the user can use other forms of media as well.

Etymology
'Hypertext' is a recent coinage. 'Hyper-' is used in the mathematical sense of
extension and generality (as in 'hyperspace,' 'hypercube') rather than the medical
sense of 'excessive' ('hyperactivity'). There is no implication about size— a hypertext
could contain only 500 words or so. 'Hyper-' refers to structure and not size.
— Theodor H. Nelson, Brief Words on the Hypertext, 23 January 1967
The term "hypertext" is often used where the term "hypermedia" might seem
appropriate. In 1992, author Ted Nelson – who coined both terms in 1963 – wrote:
By now the word "hypertext" has become generally accepted for branching and
responding text, but the corresponding word "hypermedia", meaning complexes of
branching and responding graphics, movies and sound – as well as text – is much
less used. Instead they use the strange term "interactive multimedia": this is four
syllables longer, and does not express the idea of extending hypertext.
— Nelson, Literary Machines, 1992

The invention of hypertext

Ted Nelson coined the words "hypertext" and "hypermedia" in 1965,
and worked with Andries van Dam to develop the Hypertext Editing
System, in 1968, at Brown University. Engelbart had begun working
on his NLS system in 1962, at Stanford Research Institute, although
delays in obtaining funding, personnel, and equipment meant that its
key features were not completed until 1968. In December of that year,
Engelbart demonstrated a hypertext interface to the public for the first
time, in what has come to be known as "The Mother of All Demos."
Funding for NLS slowed after 1974. Influential work in the following
decade included NoteCards at Xerox PARC and ZOG at Carnegie
Mellon. ZOG started in 1972, as an artificial intelligence research
project under the supervision of Allen Newell, and pioneered the
"frame" or "card" model of hypertext. ZOG was deployed in 1982, on
the USS Carl Vinson and later commercialized as Knowledge
Management System. Two other influential hypertext projects from the
early 1980s, were Ben Shneiderman's The Interactive Encyclopedia
System (TIES) at the University of Maryland (1983) and Intermedia
at Brown University (1984).
Applications
The first hypermedia application was the Aspen Movie Map in 1977. In
1980, Tim Berners-Lee created ENQUIRE, an early hypertext
database system somewhat like a wiki. The early 1980s also saw a
number of experimental hypertext and hypermedia programs, many of
whose features and terminology were later integrated into the Web.
Guide was the first hypertext system for personal computers.
In August 1987, Apple Computer released HyperCard for the
Macintosh line at the MacWorld convention. Its impact, combined with
interest in Peter J. Brown's GUIDE (marketed by OWL and released
earlier that year) and Brown University's Intermedia, led to broad
interest in and enthusiasm for hypertext and new media. The first
ACM Hypertext academic conference took place in November 1987, in
Chapel Hill NC.
Types and uses of hypertext
Hypertext documents can either be static (prepared and stored in advance) or
dynamic (continually changing in response to user input, such as dynamic web
pages). Static hypertext can be used to cross-reference collections of data in
documents, software applications, or books on CDs. A well-constructed system can
also incorporate other user-interface conventions, such as menus and command
lines. Links used in a hypertext document usually replace the current piece of
hypertext with the destination document. A lesser known feature is StretchText,
which expands or contracts the content in place, thereby giving more control to the
reader in determining the level of detail of the displayed document. Some
implementations support transclusion, where text or other content is included by
reference and automatically rendered in place.
Hypertext can be used to support very complex and dynamic systems of linking and
cross-referencing. The most famous implementation of hypertext is the World Wide
Web, written in the final months of 1990 and released on the Internet in 1991.

Forms of hypertext
There are various forms of hypertext, each of which are structured differently. Below
are four of the existing forms of hypertext:

 Axial hypertexts are the most simple in structure. They are situated along an
axis in a linear style. These hypertexts have a straight path from beginning to
end and are fairly easy for the reader to follow. An example of an axial hypertext
is The Virtual Disappearance of Miriam.
 Arborescent hypertexts are more complex than the axial form. They have a
branching structure which resembles a tree. These hypertexts have one
beginning but many possible endings. The ending that the reader finishes on
depends on their decisions whilst reading the text. This is much
like gamebook novels that allow readers to choose their own ending.
 Networked hypertexts are more complex still than the two previous forms of
hypertext. They consist of an interconnected system of nodes with no dominant
axis of orientation. Unlike the arborescent form, networked hypertexts do not
have any designated beginning or any designated endings. An example of a
networked hypertext is Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl.
 Layered hypertext consist of two layers of linked pages. Each layer is doubly
linked sequentially and a page in the top layer is doubly linked with a
corresponding page in the bottom layer. The top layer contains plain text, the
bottom multimedia layer provides photos, sounds and video. In the Dutch
historical novel De man met de hoed [nl][23] designed as layered hypertext in 2006
by Eisjen Schaaf, Pauline van de Ven en Paul Vitányi, the structure is proposed
to enhance the atmosphere of the time, to enrich the text with research and
family archive material and to enable readers to insert memories of their own
while preserving tension and storyline.

Hypertext and hypermedia architecture

Semantic and rhetorical link types

Burbules (1998) made a categorization based on rhetorics:

 Metaphor: “ a comparison, an equation, between apparently dissimilar objects,

inviting the listener or reader to see points of similarity between them while also
inviting a change in the originally related concepts by "carrying over" previously
unrelated characteristics from one to the other.”
 Metonymy: “ an association not by similarity, but by contiguity, relations in
practice”.
 Synecdoche: “ figurations where part of something is used as a shorthand for the
thing as a whole or, more rarely, vice versa. [..]. In the context of Web links, this
trope is particularly influential in identifying, or suggesting, relations of categorical
inclusion”
 Hyperbole: exaggeration for the sake of tropic emphasis (or its opposite,
understatement for the same effect), i.e. “ there is a tacit implication with each
collection, each archive, each search engine, of a degree of comprehensiveness
beyond its actual scope”
 Antistatis: the "same" word - in a different or contrasting context.
 Identity: identity denies difference and emphasizes equivalence
 Sequence and cause-and-effect: indicate real relations, not simply allusive ones.
 Catechresis: "far-fetched" uses of familiar words in a new context. “ In the
context of the Web, catechresis becomes a trope for the basic working of the
link, generally: any two things can be linked, even a raven and a writing desk,
and with that link, instantaneously, a process of semic movement begins”
Harrison's (2002) paper explores the semantic and rhetorical principles underlying
link development of web sites and proposes a systematic, comprehensive
classification of link types that could be of use to researchers and Web production
teams:
 Authorizing: Describes an organization's legal, formal policies, contact
information, etc. that authenticate the site and its content.
 Commenting: Provides opinion about the site and/or its content.
 Enhancing: Provides more factual information about site content by offering
greater detail or painting the "bigger picture."
 Exemplifying: Provides a specific example of content within a broader category.
 Mode-Changing: Moves users from the reading mode to one that requires a
different kind of activity.
 Referencing/Citing: Provides information that "informs" or supplements the site's
content.
 Self-Selecting: Allows users to narrow a search by making choices based on
their age, sex, geographical location, life situation, personal interests, and so on
([1], retrieved 18:47, 6 November 2006 (MET))

A technical classification of links

In the history of hypertext we can distinguish "minimal" technology such as HTML
and systems that provide a richer set of link types. E.g. the XLink standard which
did/does not have much success with industry defines a whole lot of linking
attributes.
Simple links

 One element on the screen/document (e.g. a word or a button) points to another

screen or other element within the loaded screen/document. After clicking the
link, current content is replaced by target content. These are links that one can
find in HTML (web contents).
Complex links
There are many, e.g.:

 Fat (multi-tailed) links: a fat link can open several windows simultaneously with
one click of the mouse.
 Multiple-choice links: the user can choose among several options from a menu.
 Labelled links: A user can see what a link is good for (e.g. "example", "theory",
"further reading", "reference", etc.)
 Aggregations: (include various smaller documents into a single text)
 Inclusions: A link that expands contents in place to include other contents.
 Transclusion: A text that is composed as an aggregation of other text. E.g. in a
Mediawiki like this on can build pages out of other pages by using this syntax
Hyperlinks
Alessi & Trollop (2001:155) suggest to pay attention to a few factors when creating
hyperlinks of various forms, which we shortly outline here:
Object types of links

 Word links are easy to spot but decrease readability and influence on browsing
behavior.
 Links in pictures and videos may be less easy to spot depending on how they
are made
Purpose of links

 Clearly, links should be used for a reason. Firstly, there should a general concept
about the media type to be constructed (e.g. see the overview of genres below)
and then there should a be a use case analysis (what it will be used for) in terms
of one or several instructional design models.
Density of links

 For reference works, it's in principle a good a idea to include many links
 However, in education one may limit links in texts that should be read in its
entirety, or only show them after explicit request or some other control function
(e.g. learner level). There is actually a lot of research on adaptive hypertext
Visibility of links

 Links should be clearly visible, however there is a tradeoff with readability.

 In general, one should not users require to move the mouse over an object that
then will highlight in order to find available links. A compromise, might be a
visibility of links turn on/off button. E.g. in a modern web browser this is very
easy to implement.
Screen Location

 In particular menu links should be placed in standard locations (e.g. on top or to

the left)
Confirmation

 The authors put several things into this category, e.g.

 Confirmation of link selection (not activation): E.g. display a mouse-over effect.
Then the links can for example offer a preview, or let the user display contents in
different locations. (In web browsers, the latter functionality is the right-
click menu, and the further can be implement with Javascript.
Finally, one also may ask confirmation from the user to open or navigate to different
sites.
Marking

 Recently selected links can be specially mark (e.g. by default, word links in web
browsers change color from blue to violet)
 One also can implement user trails, i.e. display somewhere a list or the path of
visited links. Typically, this is implemented in shopping applications like amazon
(also in this wiki, if you use a login).
Semantic Cueing

 A semantic cue identifies the relation to the link target or at least its kind (e.g.
use a color code or little icons that characterize the links)
 Other options are to use a menu or to display links relationships in a separate
window with a concept graph.
Distance

 This is partly same issue as above, partly the problem that in education it's a
difficult decision whether you can rely on external links. E.g. if you teach about
hypertext in education, would you trust us to keep this page alive ?
 Typically in web design, one tries to make a distinction between internal and
external links (e.g. this is being done in this wiki). However the question whether
we trust other people to keep their links online is a very difficult one.
Modifiability

 In earlier systems users were able to modify or at least to annotate a hypertext.

Also they could add links.
 In more recent hypermedia (including most web pages) this is not usually the
case.
 There is a difference between hypermedia that can be changed (e.g. like this
wiki), those that can be annotated and those where the changes are only seen
by the user who made those changes (the latter version is the most difficult to
implement). Annotation systems are successfully used in education, e.g.
the Diplo Foundation uses annotation of online text as primary teaching medium.

Navigation types from a GUI perspective

In a hypertext or hypermedia system, there can be many kinds of navigational
devices (most of which are links). E.g.:

 Simple word or button links

 Menu bars
 Context menus
 Graphics (concept maps, maps, time lines)
 Table of contents, Indexes, Glossaries
 Search

Conclusion
HyperText is the method by which you move around on the web — by
clicking on special text called hyperlinks which bring you to the next page.
... Markup is what HTML tags do to the text inside them. They mark it as a
certain type of text (italicised text, for example).

Hypertext most often refers to text on a computer that will lead the user to
other, related information on demand. Hypertext represents a relatively
recent innovation to user interfaces, which overcomes some of the
limitations of written text. Rather than remaining static like traditional text,
hypertext makes possible a dynamic organization of information through
links and connections (called hyperlinks). Hypertext can be designed to
perform various tasks; for instance when a user "clicks" on it or "hovers"
over it, a bubble with a word definition may appear, a web page on a
related subject may load, a video clip may run, or an application may open.

Hypertext added a dynamic cross referencing capability to text creation and

had enormous impacts on writing, publication, education, and other
communication tools.