Twin Media: Hypertext Structure Under Pressure

Proceedings of the 2004 ACM Hypertext Conference.

This essay reports on issues that arise in composing a large argumentative hypertext associated with a book version of the same project. It concerns not the old navigation problem for the lost reader, but the construction problem for the uncertain author. The essay discusses link patterns, the intentions of readers and authors, and the pressure of the book upon the structure of the hypertext. Hypertext does not need to be associated with a book to feel these pressures from our habits with other media. How can a long expository hypertext be made accessible, and argue for its views, without sacrificing the virtues of hypertextual presentation? The essay attempts to exemplify as well as discuss these issues.

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