Notes on Reading
Hypertext Articles

Reading factual or analytical material as hypertext can be simultaneously enlightening and maddening, as any of you who have researched extensively on the web will know. Textual links catapult us to new ideas and new sources, yet at the same time snatch us from a developing theory or idea on the page from which we left.

I suggest that you read the whole article first, without opening any of the links (unless you need them to navigate to a new page). This is akin to the skimming phase of conventional close academic reading.

Then, when you have a fair idea of the theme and argument of the article (and have, of course, written down a brief summary in your log) go back to the beginning, and work more slowly through the piece, opening links, and following tangential trails as you go.

As you move through the links, think about who the author of each piece is, and try to work out why the original author has sent you there. Exploring the rationale for individual links will help you develop your own ideas about building hypertext.

Always write down/save to disc the URL of a secondary link which you think you might want to visit again. Nothing is more frustrating than having to go back through an article (and all its links and all their links) looking for the quotation that could animate your whole essay.

Enjoy!

 

 

the syllabus     the texts     the journals    
the assignments     the presentations
hypertext bookshelf      hypertext writing

Lesley Smith, August 1999