In a hypertext document organized by Web, any topic can be linked to any other topic. There are no restrictions on the patterns of connections among topics. In this freeform organization, the full associative power of hypertext can be realized. According to William Horton (1994), this structure "promotes the kind of exploration that occurs during the development of new ideas" (p. 173).
On the opposite ends of the "organizing by Web" continuum are:
The pure Web
In a pure Web, every topic is directly linked to every other topic. Horton (1994) says this structure poses several problems. It may merely propagate the writer's confusion, require too much overhead in terms of storage space and maintenance, and present too many choices to the reader.
Horton (1994) states, "In all but the smallest documents, the complete Web is impractical for online documents" (p. 174).
The partial Web
In a partial Web, not all connections between topics are made. Most often, these structures are sparse, linking each topic to just a few other topics.
The most common form is the hierarchy with cross-references, a structure that fits in both the hierarchy and Web categories. A partial Web works well for a collection of randomly related topics.
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Last Updated: May 2, 2001
(c)2000 by Alysson Troffer. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce or redistribute any material from this document, in whole or in part, without written permission.