BKHPRTXT.RVW 940613 Academic Press Professional 955 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Josh Mills, Marketing, jmills@acad.com publisher@igc.org "Hypertext & Hypermedia", Nielsen, 1993, 0-12-518411-5 nielsen-info@bellcore.com Hypertext is the linking of relevant information within or across documents. In its crudest form, one could say that footnotes are a type of hypertext. Hypermedia is the similar linking of text and non-text information, and a comparison could be made to a child's book/tape combination. The primary vision of hypertext and hypermedia, however, is in terms of computer controlled documents and multimedia. Hypertext is a new field, for all practical purposes less than a decade old. The somewhat minimal organization of the book is, therefore, an accurate reflection of a new and relatively immature field. Nielsen has done a splendid job. The book examines definitions, history, applications, current systems, the structure of hypertext, hardware needs, navigation, usability, conversion of text, and the future. This gives a very broadly based, if rather enthusiastic, introduction to the topic. The book closes with appendices listing vendors, and a very thorough, annotated bibliography. Not all aspects of the book are equally good. While HyperCard, for example, is capable of significant projects, it tends to be used or misused, as a simple Rolodex of information. Therefore, advice on the writing of hypertexts should have been a major emphasis. The chapter included gives a few useful tips, but is substantially less than it could have been. For those interested in a quick introduction to the topic, or for a text in a low level course, a very concise and readable text. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKHPRTXT.RVW 940613 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag