Organization is as important in hypertext as in print documents, both rhetorically and practically. However, screen reading problems and the nonlinear nature of hypertext lead to some notable organizational differences, including the following:
The connections between online topics are more likely to be associative,
not syllogistic.
As John M. Slatin (1990) states, "the logical connections between elements are primarily associative, not syllogistic, as in conventional text" (p. 876). (In syllogism, reasoning is deductive and progresses from the general to the specific.) As a result, organizing hypertext for the reader becomes more difficult.
Nonetheless, the hypertext writer has various organizational strategies to choose from to create an effective structure. Whatever the structure, writers can help readers identify organizational patterns within their network of topics using metaphors, links, and buttons.
Readers cannot easily envision the structure of hypertext documents.
Various limitations make it difficult for online readers to see how the topics of a hypertext document are related to each other. Limitations such as small screen size and the absence of a physical artifact to reveal the document's general dimensions contribute to this problem. So does the reader's inability to view more than one screen at a time.
Readers are more likely to become "lost in cyberspace" if they
cannot envision hypertext document structures.
When readers become disoriented, they might need to retrace their steps or move forward with no clear idea of where they are going.
To help prevent reader disorientation, online writers need to implement new strategies to help readers envision the structure of their documents.
Online readers can also become disoriented when they traverse
links and follow a nonlinear path through your document.
An effective linking strategy supports a document structure that is obvious and easy to navigate, both of which help prevent reader disorientation.
Although hypertext can be structured in a linear hierarchy, it can also present "an intricate, open web of interrelated information, both intertextual and interactive, as reader and writer work together to create the text" (Tovey, 1998). Information in hypertext can even be organized in what Henrietta N. Shirk (1991) calls "gigantic interrelated webs" (p. 191).
The potential for such open structures leads to the metaphor of free association, suggesting that anything that can be linked should be linked. However, hypertext may be driven by an organizational metaphor and not be as open to free associations as many often imply (Tovey).
A sound organizational structure is especially important online.
On the World Wide Web, organization is a key element in a person's or an organization's presence or ethos. If a hypertext presents an illogical structure or inconsistent design, readers can perceive a lack of credibility (Hunt, 1996).
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Last Updated: May 2, 2001
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