“My Own Alphabet” is a motion poem about disorder, learning new things, forgetting details and seeing from new and different perspectives. The poetry may look jumbled to you, but the author does not see it that way. Aleatory Funkhouser is a ten year old student from the USA who is interested in experimental poetry.
The recent evolution of western societies has been characterized by an increasing emphasis on information and communication. As the amount of available information increases, however, the user -- worker, student, citizen -- faces a new problem: selecting and accessing relevant information. More than ever it is crucial to find efficient ways for users to interact with information systems in a way that prevents them from being overwhelmed or simply missing their targets. As a result, hypertext systems have been developed as a means of facilitating the interactions between readers and text. In hypertext, information is organized as a network in which nodes are text chunks (e.g., lists of items, paragraphs, pages) and links are relationships between the nodes (e.g., semantic associations, expansions, definitions, examples -- virtually any kind of relation that can be imagined between two text passages). Unfortunately, the many ways in which these hypertext interfaces can be designed has caused a complexity that extends far beyond the processing abilities of regular users. Therefore, it has become widely recognized that a more rational approach based on a thorough analysis of information users' needs, capacities, capabilities, and skills is needed. This volume seeks to meet that need.
From a user-centered perspective -- between systems and users -- this volume presents theoretical and empirical research on the cognitive processes involved in using hypertext. In so doing, it illustrates three main approaches to the design of hypertext systems:
*cognitive, which examines how users process multilayered hypertext structures;
*ergonomical, which explores how users interact with the design characteristics of hardware and software; and
*educational, which studies the learning objectives, frequency and duration of hypertext sessions, type of reading activity, and the user's learning characteristics.
This volume also tries to provide answers for the questions that have plagued hypertext research:
*What is hypertext good for?
*Who is hypertext good for?
*If it is useful for learning and instruction, then what type?
*What particular cognitive skills are needed to interact successfully with a hypertext system? Anyone interested in the fields of computer science, linguistics, psychology, education, and graphic design will find this volume intriguing, informative, and a definitive starting point for future research in the field of hypertext.
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham
United Kingdom
Incubation2 was the second trAce International Conference on Writing & the Internet, and the premier international event for writers working on the web. It provided a showcase for the writing of the future and offered a glimpse into the work of writers who use the internet to develop ground-breaking content: poetry with sound and images, personal histories, news, journalism, stories with multiple endings. This is writing on the web, for the web, and about the web.
Speakers included:
Lizzie Jackson, Editor, Communities, BBCiTalan Memmott Hypermedia artist/writer Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) Sound artist
The conference was a significant opportunity for writers to extend their professional development, learn new skills, and interact with some of the leading writers and artists working online today. There were opportunities to meet with writers who have made a significant contribution to this new form, as well as the chance for writers to show their own work and look at other people's. There werevskills-based workshops and feedback workshops, panel discussions, presentations, demonstrations and performances, and plenty of opportunity to network and meet those people you only ever knew online.
Our themes in 2002 were:
Process:
How do we collaborate on the web?What is the difference between electronic writing and print-based writing?Is new media writing literature?
Learning:
How do we learn and teach writing on the web?How is the online workshop different from the physical workshop?How has the web changed what we learn and how we learn it?
Culture:
How is the web enabling writers to address diversity and difference?Is there a cultural divide between writers who use the web, and those who don't?How is the interdisciplinary culture of the web affecting traditional funding models for writing?
(Source: trAce Archive, 2002 Incubation conference site)