_Reader-Designated HyperLinking_

   In the process of reading/re-reading Web sites describing Ted Nelson's Project Xanadu ® , e.g., 

Professorial Home Page of Ted Nelson
[http://www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~ted/ ]

Project Xanadu®  [  http://www.xanadu.net/ ]

Ted Nelson and Xanadu ® 
[  http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html  ]

  
  I was struck by a description of the 'Parallel Textface' component of
Project Xanadu®  in a Web essay entitled "The World Wide Web: The Beginning and Now" prepared by  Matt Kazmierski
[ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mattkaz/history/hypertext2.html ].

In his brief overview, Kazmierski noted that the 'Parallel Textface' was 

"unique because it _allowed a *user* to create links between documents_ even if they were *not* related [emphasis added]. 

In considering this statement, it occurred to be that if would be quite beneficial for a reader of an e-article to have the ability to create *personalized* links between segments of an article, and/or to do the same across articles in the same journal and/or provided by the same publisher, and/or to e-journal provided by *other* publishers.

[In a way, this would be a very advanced form of an e-journal Annotation feature within what I call  the 'Eclectic Journal' 

[ http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/0101/0131.html ]]

One could imagine a functionality that would allow a user to mark a section of text in one e-article then to do the same in another e-article and then to automatically create a link between the two segments by an appropriate
right-hand mouse selection and click and/or appropriate keyboard command [Ctrl-L [:->] 

[One could also imagine hyperlinking text to one (or more) multimedia objects (e.g., a QuickTime movie)) 

  I'd be interested in learning if such 'Reader-Designated HyperLinking' exists
in some form or other, particularly in any existing e-journal or one currently being designed or revamped. I would also be interested in learning about any literature or technology relevant to the concept of 'reader-designated hyperlinking'.

  As Always, Any and All contributions, suggestions, critiques, compliments, complaints, queries, Cosmic Insights, etc. are Most Welcome!

  Regards,

/Gerry McKiernan
HyperLinked Librarian
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

[log in to unmask] 

      Don't Confuse Ability with Opportunity nor Opportunity with Ability.

BTW: Ted Nelson is credited with coining the word 'hypertext'
and Xanadu ®  is considered by some as an inspiration for the World Wide Web, e.g., 

[ http://www.tfh-berlin.de/~weberwu/ds/TedNelson.html] 
[ http://www.callnetuk.com/home/billkennelly/who.htm ] ]
[ http://www.scope.at/program/speakers/nelson.html]