Hypertext

A hypertext ( American English Pronunciation [ ˌ haɪpər tɛkst ] to German About text ) is a text that links to a net-like structure of objects information by cross-referencing (hyperlinks) between hypertext nodes. Hypertext is written in markup languages ​​, which also contain commands for hyperlinks next to Format statements; the most famous is the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML ) for internet documents.

Benefit

Hypertexts offer advantages over the linear information presentation has the advantage of being able to communicate complex information comparatively redundanzarm. Redundancy of freedom not only saves memory, but also simplifies the simultaneous maintenance as a stored value must be centrally changed only once, to be displayed anywhere date, where the value is associated.

The associative structure of a hypertext corresponds to the functioning of the human mind rather than linear texts, as our networked thinking similar expires, as the structures of a hypertext are built. Rolf Schulmeister used it in this context, the reference to the "cognitive plausibility hypothesis ".

Problems

One problem when working with hypertext is the targeted retrieval of information. While literate people have been trained for centuries in the reception of linear texts, one dealing with complex hypertexts only started to learn with the increasing popularity of the World Wide Web since the mid- 1990s. Tools such as search engines and search functions on the websites support the user.

Another problem is to navigate hypertext, as especially in the early years often specified by the author reading structure (eg Guided Tour ) was missing. Today hypertexts have usually a sophisticated navigation. As a result, an excess of cross-references may result in a so-called information overload, the overload with disordered information and a disorientation in the extensive network of texts ( lost in hyperspace ). Reading habits play an important role. Thus, online -savvy users less difficulty to interrupt the reading of a text in order to follow a cross-reference.

Problem-solving approaches offer virtual mind maps and web ontologies. Achieved only beginning to the problem of visualization of hypertexts, so the graphical representation of the processed typically network- shaped and, therefore, non-hierarchical structure of a hypertext presentable (see Hyperbolic Tree ).

History and Development

Hypertextual structures have been known for centuries; differentiated in the discourse network of modern times development assistance for linear texts such as tables of contents, indexes, cross-references and footnotes and any reference systems are functionally equivalent to a hypertext. A fictional narrative, which is written with and for the hypertext structure is called a hyper -Fi; this is published in print form, they can be described as an offline Hyper Fiction. The difference is that, firstly, the link destinations do not need to be present on site, and on the other, that the endorsement of the references is not mechanized or automated. As a forerunner of today's digitized hypertexts example Agostino Ramelli Bücherrad applies therefore to the 16th century and Roussel reading machine, a kind of change wheel for notes, see slip dream of Arno Schmidt. Literature History prominently is James Joyce's Finnegans Wake baffling work, reminiscent of semantic networks of hypertext. The first recognize them as such published offline Hyper fiction is " Afternoon - A story" by Michael Joyce.

The modern hypertext concept was mentioned by Vannevar Bush in 1945 in an article As We May Think in the Journal The Atlantic Monthly. He spoke in a future system Memex ( for Memory Extender ), the knowledge of a given area electronically processed easily represent accessible. This idea was based on the 1931 already patented in the USA " Statistical Machine" by Emanuel Goldberg. The core idea of the concept is the one that the endorsement of references is facilitated by electronic means and on the other that books and movies from a library can be made available and displayed. The idea of hypertext is thus connected with old utopias of the "universal library " from the beginning. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the editor of the Universal Classification Paul Otlet is the earliest pioneers of hypertext and wanted to use this universal language uniting nations. He is not by chance as co-founder of the League of Nations, from which the UN emerged.

An example of a hypertext -like poem are the hundred thousand billion poems by Raymond Queneau ( 1961). The social scientist Ted Nelson (Project Xanadu ) coined the term " hypertext " in 1965.

One of the first hypertext systems that was accessible to a larger group, was HyperCard from Apple, which shipped with the Apple - Macintosh computers.

The most widely used today hypertext system is the Internet service World Wide Web ( WWW), although it some important features from earlier hypertext systems are missing. For example, the problem of the so -called dead links in the WWW unresolved, no longer lead or not to the desired destination. The introduction of the Uniform Resource Identifiers ( URIs) is the commonly used in web URLs fulfilled only partially. In return, the WWW allows also the integration of non-speech data types such as images, which is called hypermedia. This is the WWW, even though, strictly speaking, based on hypertext, a hypermedia system. The language in which the texts of the World Wide Web will be described, is called Hypertext Markup Language; Web documents are designed and created by WebTrends Externally and web designers.

Types of hypertext systems

In 1987 Jeffrey Conklin listed on 18 different hypertext systems. The following are the four types in hypertext structures:

  • Systems with structured entities and typed links. Navigation based on the principle of direct manipulation.
  • Systems with structured entities and typed links. The navigation is based largely on the principle of direct manipulation, but also to author -supported paths.
  • Systems on the basis of structured by knowledge-based techniques units and typed links. The navigation is organized according to the dialogical, cooperative principles.
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