Storyspace & The hyperText Project
Storyspace Links
Links form the
foundation
of a hypertext system and in Storyspace links are created by the writer by
simply clicking on a 'link' tool and literally pointing to the destination of
the link. As this illustration shows, links can form a dense visual patina in a
Storyspace hypertext, and these 'demonstrate' the connections that the web
consists of. (They can be hidden if a cleaner appearing screen or window is
preferred.)
If the link is to be a specific piece or
passage of text then it needs to be selected
prior to 'completing' the link, but the program allows you to 'store' links so
that this can be done. This also makes it easy to link from anywhere to anywhere
else within a Storyspace web.
Links are represented visually by the lines and arrowheads visible, these
show the directions of the links, and of course a link can be made to return you
to its source. Within Storyspace multiple links are also supported, which means
any source link can have as many destinations as desired. This makes it
extremely powerful to organise ideas and to write within, as it supports a form
of writing which is analogous to how we think when we write.
Links can be from any part of a web to any other part, and can also be made
to parts of different web files (though they can only be followed if both files
are available). While text spaces and boxes tend to be used as organisational
devices (to collect related text spaces) it is the links that do the thematic
work in Storyspace.
To follow a link in Storyspace the reader usually needs to be within a text
space. Links can be followed by using a specific 'follow link' tool in the
program's toolbar, by a menu command, or
by using a specific keyboard combination and a mouse click. There are methods of
publishing these webs that means readers must follow established links, or the
work can be published in a manner where links can be followed, but don't have to
be.
A small pedagogical caveat...
While
Storyspace is one of the major hypertext tools being used, it must be borne in
mind that the
Hypertext Project is an effort to
develop an understanding and awareness of new modes of writing and publication.
All work undertaken within the Project is orientated towards these issues,
rather than specific software products or proprietary solutions. This is why the
Project's long term aim is to test the possibilities of allowing students across
subjects to have multiple methods of presenting work, and for staff to have
multiple modes of assessing work.
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