The evolution of hypertext link services

Abstract

Hypertext, a neologism of the 1960s indicating something which is more than text, has taken over the attention of scholars, businesses and hobbyists in the form of the World Wide Web. Developed as a hypertext framework for information distribution [Berners-Lee 1992] , its overseeing organisation (W3C) has insisted on maintaining and developing a suite of open standards for data formats, communication protocols and programming interfaces to allow all comers to participate in a globally shared information repository.However the Web is just one example of how the development of hypertext philosophy, design and deployment has led to practical solutions for information dissemination, manipulation and maintenance. This paper describes how hypertext systems have evolved to become distributed and open providers of information services and examines the nature of the linking that forms the basis of hypertext functionality.Early visions of hypertext environments took the view that all information would be made available to everyone through a particular system. Bush's Memex [Bush 1945] was such a system, but it was parasitic on the existing network of research libraries; Nelson's Xanadu [Nelson 1987] by contrast proposed a whole new computer network of ``xanalogical storage'' sites with associated franchise opportunities. Other hypertext environments, while not assuming such a level of ubiquity, were still characterised by the need to import data into the control of the system, irrespective of the fact that information was originated, modified and consumed outside of any specific environment, using many tools and programs, for many purposes, perhaps on many different machines and computer architectures.__________________________

The World Wide Web, Hyper-G and Microcosm: Historical Analysis and Future Integration Directions

“…There are several XML-based languages that can be used for the purpose of integrating OH features on the Web such as XLink [26], XPointer [27] and XPath [28]. Using these standards, an independent storage of links is possible which allows content referencing to particular areas in text, image, audio and video files [22]. Moreover, HTML hyperlinks havea one source anchor and a one destination whereas using these technologies simplifies the application of multiple sources and multiple end points (e.g.…”

“…Unlike the HTML, using XLink [29] will allow attaching links to read-only documents and in other cases where modifying the linkbases is cheaper than updating the documents themselves. What is more, these technologies will open the door toward automatic computation and generation of links based on different properties of linked documents [22]. Moreover, it will be possible to enrich the experience of the users by allowing them to annotate Web pages and have their own linkbases which they can update and share [30].…”

Links for Learning: Linking for an Adaptive Learning Environment

“…In open hypertext systems, such as the Distributed Link Service [12], link services are provided by an engine that is separate from both the data and the software that renders that data for viewing. Hypertext functionality is made available to any application, without the need for that application to itself store the links [6].…”

The Web's rich tapestry

“…that A might agree with or refute B; ț stable links -truly stable permanent links to content, ensuring that the integrity of the hypertext system was preserved as content was updated. [11][12][13] It is easy to see how these features might offer an end user a much richer experience when navigating through a hypertext environment. A researcher, for example, might easily navigate through a citation network (bi-directional linking) to understand how certain papers might refute or build upon other work (typed linking).…”