ABSTRACT
Hypermedia is a general term used to describe the presentation of graphical, textual, audio and video information in nodes (chunks) that can be linked together and accessed in a manner determined by the immediate interests of the user. Originating as an idea for mechanized information access and organization that better reflected the natural workings of the human mind by Vannevar Bush (1945), the potential of the computer to provide the best means of supporting hypermedia was recognized early on by thinkers such as Ted Nelson and Doug Engelbart (for a historical overview see Conklin 1987). The move toward hypermediabased digital documents holds with it the promise of usercontrolled, immediate access to the world of published information and stored data. While originally a specialist application domain, in the last few years the World Wide Web has brought to everyone’s desktop the power and problems of hypermedia interaction. Yet from the outset, human factors researchers have noted a range of user issues that prevent the simple transition from analog to digital resources.
