Basic Elements of Hypertext in Connecting Knowledge

(source: my thesis- improving learning ability through hypertext system)

There are five essential elements of hypertexts that should be presented in hypertext applications [Dreher, 1997 p15] :

• Nodes/chunks of knowledge, which are the group of information in hypertext. A node usually represents a single concept of idea in the form of text, images or audio that can carry semantic information [Rao and Turoff, 1990].

• Links between these groups of information.

• A navigation/browsing facility to keep a history of nodes visited. Navigation/browsing facility is used to access the structure of hypertext via a screen design and to indicate user’s previous track. In order to navigate to previous node, we can use backtrack or use the history list of the node track that is shown sequentially to review all the previous nodes that have been visited. User can use the screen to show the path of the function of the system that represent a meta diagram or high-level overview diagram, which display how a group of information is, linked to others groups by links. In meta diagram, each node can be consisted of many-detailed diagram that correspondence to meta diagram. A screen may also perform at once both meta or detail diagram. At this point, Gilster [1997] argues that the author of hypertext should think critically about the routes users will be allowed to select or browse.

• A dynamic indexing item. Dynamic indexing system constitutes of all specialized terms that hyper linked to the main document [Nielsen, 1995, p328, 329]. An index lists the terms and topics discussed in a document, in conjunction with the pages they appear on. Thus, the index lists in the documents that are particularly relevant and hyper linked to the nodes of information in a document should be dynamically reorganized.

• A full text search function. Element of search function is similar with information retrieval (IR) mechanisms such as keyword searches, author searches etc. There are also attempts to incorporate structure queries along with content queries - retrieving a part of the hypertext network based on some user-specified criteria

References:

[Dreher, 1997] Dreher, H.V., 1997, Empowering Human Cognitive Activity through Hypertext Technology, PhD Thesis. Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia.

[Rao and Turoff, 1990] Rao, U., & Turoff, M., 1990, Hypertext Functionality: A Theoretical Framework, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.

[Gilster, 1997] Gilster, P., 1997, Digital literacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

[Nielsen, 1995] Nielsen, J., 1995, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond, Academic Press, Boston.