J. Blustein's Hypertext

Notable Hypertext Websites

A part of Hypertext Materials

My major intellectual and research interests are hypertext and human-computer interaction (also known as human factors). This webpage contains a list of a few websites that are related to at least one of those areas and, I think, should be more widely known.

The Value of Links on the WWW

I don't think it is news to many people that links on the WWW are a form of currency*. The more incoming links a webpage has the more that webpage is worth. It is also pretty clear that Google is a power broker: sites that are linked to by many other webpages get high Page Rank^™ (PR). High PR tends to lead to more links, and so on.

This webpage is my attempt to use some of my PR to promote hypertext websites that I would like to see get more recognition. Some excellent sites are not linked from this list because, in my opinion, they already have sufficient notoriety. A list of major hypertext resource sites is in a different webpage.

If you are bored reading this webpage then perhaps it is not meant for you to read, but rather to be scanned, parsed, and dissected by a web robot.
If you are a bored web robot, then maybe you should get a new job.

A Note About Accessibility...

I have some notes about accessibility of these resources in another webpage.

Promoted Sites

I've organized the list of sites in four categories:

• More Theory Than Practice,
• Exemplary Hypertext,
• Hypertext Tools for the WWW, and
• Hypertext Technologies for the WWW supporting tools.

More Theory Than Practice

Jill Walker's blog: jill/txt

Description: Writings and musing about the WWW, writing, blogging, networked literature, art, and fictional narrative. Jill links to many related researcher's blogs too.

Jamie's opinion: Fascinating, sometimes lyric, often thought-provoking

Hypertext Community wiki: Weblog Kitchen Wiki

A collaborative attempt by members of the so-called Hypertext Community to describe hypertextual ideas and the play with them too. In a way, it aims to supersede the alt.hypertext newsgroup as a collective community place to share ideas and news about hypertext matters. Because it is a collaborative, dynamic, space it can be an experiment in emergent structure and other nifty hypertextual things too.

Jamie's opinion: Although content written for Weblog Kitchen is owned by Eastgate Systems* no matter who wrote it I have, and will continue to, contribute to it. [read more]

Exemplary Hypertext

Watching the Detectives: An Internet Companion for Readers of Watchmen

Description: A deeply engaging and beautiful collaborative study of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' astounding graphic novel/comicbook Watchmen.

The site is an excellent use of text and graphics. Visitors can add comments and view notes and commentary in multiple views.

Jamie's opinion: Stuart Moulthrop (with help from others) has enabled a new level of study and engagement of which I am, frankly, envious. This work far surpasses my dreams of creating an online annotation. (You can find my earliest attempt at annotating K&R (the famous book about C) by searching for C Blustein in Google.)

Hypertext Tools for the WWW

The tools listed below have more to do with human factors and usability than with hypertext per se but they are important, under-recognized and, ultimately hypertextual.

Nick Kew's Site Valet

Description: An impressive suite of tools for detecting usability and other problems with websites.

Jamie's opinion: Outstanding tools by someone who cares about accessibility, and promotes it in a concrete way. The tools are much better than anything else I've seen. (For a list of some other WWW accessibility tools see my research project page about colour on the WWW.)

Andy Edmond's uzilla

Description: a suite of tools, based on the Mozilla browser, for web-based usability testing.

Jamie's opinion: My students and I anticipate that uzilla will save us weeks of drudge work. Andy Edmonds is great at adapting and repairing the program for our needs. Everyone who does WWW-based user studies should use it. (Being based on Mozilla is a bonus too).

Hypertext Technologies for the WWW

I keep a list of outstanding resources for WWW technologies in the webpage for my Advanced Web Programming course (no, I did not name the course).

See also:

• Hypertext Materials (main page)
• Website Sitemap
• Definitions of Hypertext
• Major Hypertext Resources