abstract

background

theory

praxis

models

course

James
Karin
Chris
Christine

references

Christine's hypertext is the most clearly multilinear of the projects included here. An overview of the navigation options reveals the multiple paths through "The Beatles." As screenshot 2 shows, the reader can use the media player "skin" to navigate (A), go directly to a specific main section of the hypertext by selecting from among the four thumbnail images of album covers (B), or enter the hypertext by following the text-based link (C).

This multi-layered arrangement for navigation can only be accomplished with a clear (yet flexible) conception of relevant relationships between the individual nodes of a hypertext. While the organization of this project is not linear, Christine has an organizational structure in mind. Christine is able to draw on this structure, what Shauf (2001) calls a "logic of space," to build navigation options that are not strictly linear while remaining meaningful to the reader.

screenshot 2

A. Navigation via audio player skin.
A reader interested in a mostly linear reading of the hypertext would likely navigate using the audio player interface. Navigation instructions below the skin indicate that one selects play to "choose a record to play." Selecting play, however, does not absolve the reader of responsibility. It simply brings one to a page (screenshot 3) that presents all the individual nodes and indicates an organizational structure - a site map of sorts. Stop returns the reader to the main page for the hypertext, much as the stop button on an audio player might bring one back to the beginning of an audio file.

screenshot 3
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The "fast-forward" and "rewind" buttons give this mode of navigation its linearity. Fast-forward loads the "next track in record," a reference to the order of individual nodes within each of the four main areas of the hypertext (see screenshot 3). Rewind returns the reader to the "previous track in record." A reader navigating the hypertext using these two buttons cedes control over the order in which individual nodes appear and experiences a linear reading composed by Christine.

Christine | multilinearity, continued | hybridity

abstract | background | theory | praxis | models | course