Hypertext Literature Galore

Over the past week, I've been a reading machine. Last week, I received a hard-to-find book called Literary Machines: The report on, and of, Project Xanadu concerning word processing, electronic publishing, hypertext, thinkertoys, tomorrow's intellectual revolution, and certain other topics including knowledge, education and freedom (1981), Mindful Press, Sausalito, California. Although I wish I could say I got through the entire book, I'm about half way through. The book itself is an example of a hypertext system in that it does not flow sequentially from chapter 1 through the end of the book. The author actually suggests reading the book in a non-linear form, reading some or all of Chapter 1 first, then Chapter 2, then one section of Chapter 3. Then, he suggests the reader go back and read Chapter 2 again, then a different section of Chapter 3. There are also instructions for Chapters 4 and 5. This method of reading solidifies his theory that reading and writing doesn't have to be, and shouldn't be, sequential in nature. He suggests that humans do not process information that way, so they shouldn't be forced to. I've found this book so enthralling that I haven't been able to put it down and start anything else.

However, with pending assignments and a project proposal due in a few months, I think I will have to speed up the pace I'm reading this book (and others to come). For the next week, I will be doing another review of Vannevar Bush's As We May Think. I have read this three times before, but never from a historical hypertext perspective. Also on my radar this week is to find some pertinent material from Tim Berner's Lee to help understand how Ted Nelson (and possibly others) affected his innovative product of the 1990s - the World Wide Web. In addition, I will be ordering the book, Geeks Bearing Gifts, which is a historical synopsis of hypertext beginning with the origins of the alphabet.

So I'm not sure if I'm behind or ahead, but it seems that there is a lot of relevant historical literature regarding hypertext. I want to do the best I am capable of doing on this proposal, so I think being well-versed in this material isn't such a terrible thing. Overall, I'd like to start writing in the next week or two. I just feel like I have so much more to read.

Thesis Process Step 1: Reading

I feel like writing a Thesis is a process. A process of reading, writing, rewriting. Reading, writing, rewriting. Editing, reviewing, rewriting.

My project will be dealing with hypertext and looking at its history, and then using its application to create a hypertext system within a Tiddlywiki. During the next week, I will be doing some heavy reading by Ted Nelson. I ordered a highly anticipated (thanks Steve!), and hard-to-find book called Literary Machines: The report on, and of, Project Xanadu concerning word processing, electronic publishing, hypertext, thinkertoys, tomorrow's intellectual revolution, and certain other topics including knowledge, education and freedom (1981), Mindful Press, Sausalito, California. It should be arriving by the weekend.

Beyond that immediate reading, I will also review a web site called HypertextNow that reveals the latest publications about hypertext and some various remarks on hypertext from 1996-1999. This dated information will be valuable on the heels of the explosion of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee in the early 1990's. Some other authors I intend to read another week (not this one) include Vannevar Bush and his famous July 1949 As We May Think article; and Tim Berners-Lee. Both are considered pioneers in hypertext, of different generations and application.

So in conclusion, I will be starting at the beginning. A good read.