Hypertext, a term that includes hypermedia, signifies text composed of blocks of words (or images) linked electronically by multiple paths, chains, or trails in an open-ended web (or electronic book). Hypertext, in other words, is an information technology in which a new element -- the link -- plays a major part. All the chief practical, cultural, and educational characteristics of this medium derive from the fact that linking creates new kinds of connectivity and reader choice. Hypertext is therefore properly described as multisequential or multilinear rather than nonlinear writing.
Last updated: 23 July 2000