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Hypertext

In computing, a hypertext system is one for displaying information that contains references (called hyperlinks) to other information on the system, and for easily publishing, updating and searching for the information. The most well-known hypertext system is the World Wide Web.

Probably the first description of the idea came in 1945, when Vannevar Bush wrote an article in The Atlantic Monthly called "As We May Think," about a futuristic device he called a "Memex". He described the device as electronically linked to a library and able to display books and films from the library, and further able to automatically follow references from these to the work referenced.

The Memex did more than offer linked information to a user though. It was a tool for establishing links as well as following them. The technology used would have been a combination of electromechanical controls and microfilm cameras and readers, all integrated in a large desk. Most of the microfilm library would have been contained within the desk itself, with the option of adding or removing microfilm reels at will. It could also be used without linking, to generate information on microfilm, by taking photos from paper or from a touch sensitive translucent screen. In a way then the Memex desk was more than an hypertext machine. It was a microfilm based precursor to the personal computer. The November 1945 Life magazine article which showed the first illustrations of what the Memex desk could look like also showed illustrations of a head mounted camera, which a scientist could wear while doing experiments, and of a typewriter capable of voice recognition and of reading back the text by speech synthesis. Taken together, these Memex machines were probably the earliest practical description of what we would call today the Office of the future.

Computer scientist Ted Nelson coined the word "hypertext" in 1965. Nelson's work and many other early hypertext systems such as Douglas Engelbart's "NLS" and the popular HyperCard application bundled with the Apple Macintosh computer were quickly overshadowed by the success of Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web, even though the latter lacked many features of those earlier systems such as typed links, transclusion and source tracking.

Table of contents
1 Academic Conferences
2 See also
3 Reading
4 External links

Academic Conferences

One of the top academic conferences for new research in hypertext is the annually held ACM's Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia (HT).

HT 2004

See also

Reading

Byers, T. J. (1987, April). Built by association. PC World, 5, 244-251. Crane, Gregory. (1988). Extending the boundaries of instruction and research. T.H.E. Journal (Technological Horizons in Education), Macintosh Special Issue, 51-54.

Heim, Michael. (1987). Electronic Language: A Philosophical Study of Word Processing. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Nelson, Theodor H. (1973). A Conceptual framework for man-machine everything. National Computer Conference and Exposition, June 4-8, 1973, Mew York, NY. AFIPS Conference Proceedings VOL. 42 (pp. M22-M23). Montvale, NJ: AFIPS Press.

Van Dam, Andries. (1988, July). Hypertext '87 keynote address. Communications of the ACM, 31, 887-895.

Yankelovich, Nicole, Landow, George P., and Cody, David. (1987). Creating hypermedia materials for English literature students. SIGCUE Outlook, 20(3).

External links


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Indra's Net or Hologography
Introduction to some of the work in 'machine modulated poetry' which John Cayley has been developing since the late 1970s.
http://www.shadoof.net/in/

Hypertext 2001
The Twelfth ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia, organized by the Association for Computing Machinery.
http://www.ht01.org/

Hypertext Resources at Eastgate
Resource list by specialists in hypertextual fiction and theory.
http://www.eastgate.com/Hypertext.html

HyperLiterature/HyperTheory
Resource offering links and bibliography.
http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/hthl/

Writing Lives. Technology, Creativity and Hypertext Fiction
Michael Shumate's Masters Thesis for Duke's Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, completed in August 1996.
http://www.duke.edu/~mshumate/fiction/htt/mals.html

The Hypertext Kitchen
Portal.
http://www.hypertextkitchen.com/

BeeHive
Hypertext and hypermedia literary journal.
http://beehive.temporalimage.com/

Hyperizons
Theory and Criticism of Hypertext Fiction, by Michael Shumate.
http://www.duke.edu/~mshumate/theory.html

Encyclopaedia and Hypertext
Hypertext as an object of philosophical reflection. The three main research topics are From Encyclopaedia to Hypertext, Hypertext and Text Theory, and The Image Atlas of Aby Warburg.
http://www.educ.fc.ul.pt/hyper/eng/

Hipertulia
Forum whose aim is to introduce hypertext and hyperfiction to the Spanish-speaking public. Includes some articles in English.
http://www.ucm.es/info/especulo/hipertul/indexeng.htm

HyperContent, HyperJunk
"Hypertext theory as if the WWWeb matters". Includes a timeline of hypertext evolution and a concise taxonomy of varieties of hypertext, with examples and links.
http://www.robotwisdom.com/web/content.html

ht_lit Mailing List
Instructions on how to join ht_lit, a low-traffic but valuable list a lot of hypertext theorists are members of.
http://www.wordcircuits.com/dir/ht_lit.htm

ACM Special Interest Group for Hypertext and Hypermedia and the Web
Host of annual, international conferences since 1987. Access to full papers from the conferences in the ACM digital library, in addition to newsletters and conference information.
http://www.acm.org/sigweb/

Digital Literature: From Text to Hypertext and Beyond
Raine Koskimaa's PhD thesis, which develops critical approaches to reading hypertext through close readings of several hypertext fictions.
http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~koskimaa/thesis

Lisbeth Klastrup: A Study of Interactive Reading
An MA thesis written in 1997 discussing, among other works, Joyce's afternoon, Moulthrop's Victory Garden and Gaarder's Sophie's World
http://www.itu.dk/people/klastrup/Disindex.html

alt.hypertext FAQ
Answers to questions frequently asked in alt.hypertext and references to other online resources about hypertext and hypermedia.
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/%7ejamie/hypertext-faq.html

The New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia
Annual peer-reviewed review journal on the practical and theoretical developments in hypermedia and hypertext. Of interest both to technical developers and to esthetical or cultural theorists. Print journal, abstracts available online.
http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/~NRHM/

Suite101: Lit[art]ure
Interviews with new media poets and net artists, reviews of websites, criticism, articles and discussion. Part of Suite101, a volunteer editing project.
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/litarture

Nestvold, Ruth: The use of the second person in electronic fiction
Essay discussing second person narration in hypertext fiction and text adventures. First presented at the IALS conference in Freiburg in 1997.
http://www.ruthnestvold.com/2ndper.htm

Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies
An online, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to research, study, teach, support, and create diverse and dynamic elements of cyberculture. Book reviews, and bibliographies.
http://www.com.washington.edu/rccs/

The Text Electric
A publishing space for essays, hyperfiction, and annotated bibliographies of hypertext criticism and theory. Based at the National University of Singapore.
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljflp/ht/

Weblog Kitchen: Hypertext Theory
An entry point for discussion of hypertext theory, rhetoric, and related topics.
http://weblogkitchen.com/wiki.cgi?HypertextTheory

Hypertext at Brown
Brown University has been famous for its research on hypertext. History of hypertext, George Landow and the Victorian Web.
http://www.victorianweb.org/cpace/ht/HTatBrown/BrownHT.html



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