What is hypertext? To some, the name suggests that hypertext is simply text that has been hyped. To some, the name suggests only the World-Wide Web. To some, the name is synonymous with the Internet. To some, hypertext is just a word for computer-processed text. While hypertext has some relationship to hype, the World-Wide Web, the Internet, and computerized text, it is none of them. The name, if read more carefully, tells you some basics of hypertext. Hypertext is text that goes beyond traditional text. How does it go beyond traditional text? Traditional text is primarily linear, intended to be read from start to finish. Hypertext is primarily nonlinear; there are many possible paths in a hypertext, often with no specified ending point. A typical hypertext consists of a number of nodes (chunks of text) that are connected by links (connections between chunks). A reader, when reading a hypertext, reads or scans each chunk and then selects which link to take next. A link make take the reader back to a page previously read, to a new page, or even to a new version of a page previously read. Since each reader can choose a different set of links, each reader personalizes the hypertext. Do many traditional texts have hypertextual features? Yes. Many works of nonfiction (and some of fiction) include indices and tables of contents that permit readers to quickly jump to a different part of the text. Many readers often choose to read texts out of order, jumping from one page to the index to a related idea and back again. It is even possible to rip apart a text and read the parts in random order, in a fit of dadaesque frenzy. Nonetheless, most texts are primarly read front-to-back, with most departures being small, and quickly returning to the main text. Do most hypertexts include a number of linear components? Yes. Each node in a hypertext is often little more than a short linear document. Many hypertexts even provide a main path or trail that readers are expected to follow. Nonetheless, hypertexts differ from traditional texts in that hypertexts typically emphasize their nonlinearity; while it is expected that readers of a traditional text will return to the main text, it is expected that readers of a hypertext will continue to explore links, thereby further personalizing their reading experiences.
===== History * Created Tuesday, March 22, 1999 as a mostly blank document, including only the first few paragraphs of the introductory essay.