Retrieval hierarchies in hypertext

We have developed a collaborative, reuse hypertext system that has novel browsing and retrieval characteristics. The system, called Many Using and Creating Hypertext (MUCH), has been implemented on a network of UNIX workstations and used extensively in our group. This paper presents the model underlying the use of the MUCH system with respect to organizing, retrieving, and reorganizing information. In order to reuse information successfully, one must first organize it, then retrieve it, and finally reorganize it. The storage layer of hypermedia is logically based on nodes and links, and the MUCH system assumes that the names for these nodes and links represent a kind of semantic net. Documents, thesauri, and discussions may all be connected in this semantic net. The various functionalities of the system then exploit the knowledge in this semantic net. Traversals of the net with various filters are the basis for the views that users get of the semantic net. The standard perspective is of a fold-unfold outline that represents a fisheye view of the semantic net. The reorganization of information also depends on a selection of nodes and their presentation within a connected subnet. © 1993.