Hypertext, Full Text, And Automatic Linking

Abstract

Current computing systems typically support only mid-century information structures: simple hierarchies. Hypertext technologies enable users to impose many structures on document sets and, consequently, provide many paths to desired information, but they require that users work their way through some structure. Full-text search eliminates this requirement by ignoring structure altogether. The search strategy can also be restricted to work within specified contexts. The architecture provided for search readily supports automatic linking. These ideas have been tested in IRIS Intermedia.