... paradigm.¹

This has of course been thought of before, viz. the whole idea of hypertext as a means of creating "ultimate references" of various sorts, but we feel that this project has a manageable scope and an appropriate context for implementation, perhaps for the first time.

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... CD-ROM.²

By incorporating Java or JavaScript programs with "hypertext" HTML files one can produce "documents that do things" as well as integrated sound, graphics, text and other subtly cross-linked information.

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... WebCT.³

If the reader is unfamiliar with WebCT, we suggest visiting its Web site at homebrew.cs.ubc.ca:8900 where one can find descriptions of WebCT itself and also access many of the courses, including the current (rudimentary) Science 1 WebCT site.

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... HyperTextBook.⁴

See following page for a detailed explanation of this term.

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... up.⁵

When was the last time you started reading a reference book (for example a user's manual) from the front page and continued through to the last page? Certainly not when you were trying to find the answer to a specific question!

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... follows:⁶

The procedure described here is obviously hypothetical, based on an initial guess at the optimum implementation scheme; the real thing may be completely different!

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... Topic"⁷

This one would not be active on the Entrance Page, of course.

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... it!⁸

For instance, suppose you want to know the difference between waves in the open ocean and waves on shallow water. Open the Entrance Page, select "Alphabetical Index," go to the W's and click on waves -- a more detailed index of wave topics will be presented. Click on water waves. This will either take you to a page on water waves or to a still more detailed index where you may find exactly the topic(s) you are seeking. At any point you can use your Web browser's Search function to locate text strings in the current page.

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... concepts,⁹

For example, the description of deep-ocean water waves may refer to SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION; you can jump to this topic just by clicking on the words, if they are highlighted as a hypertext link.

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... MetaIndex¹⁰

At any time, the MetaIndex can be invoked by clicking on an icon at (e.g.) the top of the page, or by a predefined combination of keystrokes.

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... HyperTextBook.¹¹

For instance, on the SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION page you may want to know what Mathematics topics relate to the solution of DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, or whether there are examples of SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION in Chemistry and Biology; the MetaIndex should provide these links quickly and efficiently.

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... queue."¹²

There is clearly a need for some supervision and filtering to ensure that the "Need More Data!" queue does not fill up with frivolous requests nor the input queues with inane links or misleading information. The HyperTextBook requires management in the form of editing and judgement calls, but the return on this effort will be extraordinarily high.

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... steps.¹³

A good counterexample is the rudimentary on-line Physics "HyperReference" being developed at
http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/ jess/hr/skept/  which presents content cross-linked only in a conventional linear fashion (and hardly at all to material outside its own terms of reference).

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