On Hypertext

Abstract

This panel will employ two different interpretations of the phrase “growing up” to address areas of common interest between hypertext and information retrieval researchers. First, the panelists will question whether or not hypertext is “growing up” as a scientific discipline; They will discuss characteristics that separate hypertext research from other related disciplines. Second, the panelists will discuss the problems encountered when a hypertext system “grows up” in size and complexity; They will discuss the very real problems expected when representing and integrating large knowledge bases, accommodating multiple users, and distributing single logical hypertexts across multiple physical sites. The panelists will not lecture, but they will advance a number of themes including “the Myth of Modularity” (Frisse), “New Architectures Employing Hyperconcept Databases” (Agosti), “Hypertext in Software Engineering” (Bruandet), “Automatic Hypertext Generation” (Hahn), and “Large-Scale Hypertexts” (Weiss).