Navigation in Hypertext
Folder Systems
Folder systems permit one to use an easily comprehensible visual metaphor both to begin reading and, later, to discern one's location within a complex information space [Landow]. Readers can confront various forms of folder arrangement when they first start the system. This technique was used in Intermedia, Microcosm and Storyspace.
This is a view readers encounter when they open a Storyspace site called Mahasukha Halo:
Source: http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html
Another effective folder structure presentation is Dynamic Diagrams' MAPA software for the Web. This is a map of Britannica Online:
Source: http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html
This kind of map permit readers to see the overall structure of the whole web site and move to a page that is far from the current one.
Another approach is providing readers a manually created graphic presentation, such as a concept map.
Last modified: 6 Nov 2002 by Kathy Nguyen Dang