Hypermedia and the Web

This work offers guidance on how to apply a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach to developing and maintaining online information with associative linking websites. Issues in the development process include application usability, cognitive management and productivity.

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Hypermedia (often used just as Hypertext is - but in this book taken to include multimedia as well as textual online information) is a term which describes the form and structure of online information and in particular the innate characteristic of linking electronic data.

The online world offered through the Web is marred by the chaos which underlies it. At the very early stages of understanding how to harness the power of this new medium, electronic document creators, managers and researchers often spend time on technology innovations at the expense of adopting the sound engineeirng principles which have paid such dividends in the software industry.

Hypermedia and the Web approaches interactive information (concentrating on hypertext documents) as a structure requiring management, quantification and documentation. From analysing the purpose for which a website, CD-ROM or online archive is created and assessing the characteristics and resources needed for the process of building it, to the evaluation of the product itself, this book attempts to carve out features that are essential to structuring information in an electronic environment.

Suitable for students on graduate computer science courses—Electronic Publishing, Multimedia and other online related courses. Will also be of great interest to Web Development Managers and Consultants concerned with maintainability of Websites and large electronic document archives.