Thoughts on Class Discussion 9/19

As we were discussing the book vs. the web and the idea of hypertext, I formulated the thought that a book generally has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Literally. Regardless of where you open the book. The footnotes provide more content and context, but they all point backward, to earlier works.

 On the web, hypertext points the viewer many times to concurrent information and sources. So its not so much linear vs. nonlinear, as its about moving laterally or forward.

Does this make the web more useful? Depends on the quality and veracity of that concurrent info, but it certainly can lead you through more keyholes. And the idea that hypertext is only as valuable or relevant as the person who initiates it: valid. But, if we’re writing history for the web, there are rules to follow as you would for a book or article; document your sources, flesh out the discussion with notes, etc. All are ripe hypertext moments. And that’s just the foundation; after those bases are covered, indulge in all of the wonderful multimedia and hypertext you can stand !  

Now, a request: can we limit the big words, i.e. teliogical, diachronous, etc.? Makes my brain hurt, and I don’t want to appear to be an idiot if I stop the discussion to ask what it means…  Thank you.