Writing and reading hypertext: An overview

The new information technologies make hypertext an important application. A hypertext system extends text along several dimensions. From the perspective of the writer, the old wordprocessor is transformed into a writer's workbench that supports the organizing of thoughts into networks and of networks into prose. From the reader's perspective, a hypertext system gives explicit access to the semantic network that underlies a document. A high‐resolution screen supports the graphics of a document and allows different parts of a document to be viewed at the same item. Many writers or readers may simultaneously manipulate one or more documents, and thus a hypertext system provides connections among people, among documents, and between people and documents. Finally, hypertext applies to more than the traditional document — not only papers and letters but software and knowledge‐bases can be developed and accessed with hypertext techniques. © 1989 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.