Hypertext habitats: experiences of writers in NoteCards

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on an investigation into the use of the NoteCards hypertext system for writing. We describe a wide variety of personal styles adopted by 20 researchers at Xerox as they “inhabit” NoteCards. This variety is displayed in each of their writing activities: notetaking, organizing and reorganizing their work, maintaining references and bibliographies, and preparing documents. In addition, we discuss the distinctive personal decisions made as to which activities are appropriate for NoteCards in the first place. Finally, we conclude with a list of recommendations for system designers arising from this work.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING
      I.7.2 Document Preparation
          Subjects: Hypertext/hypermedia

General Terms:
Design, Documentation, Human Factors, Languages, Management, Performance, Theory