Post for 10/26: Reading and Thinking Blog 23

Reading and Thinking Blog 23

Slatin, John M. "Reading Hypertext: Order and Coherence in a New Medium." Computers in the Composition Classroom. Eds. Michelle Sidler, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2008. 165-174. Print.

Electronic Representation:
PDF of article

Comments:
This article provided an interesting analysis of hypertext through a comparison of this mode versus traditional text. Slatin helped to define hyptertext by explaining what it is not. The author then discusses the unique aspects of this mode including its presence only online, the non-linear reading and writing of the material, and authoring or the construction of this text.

Slatin discusses the different types of readers of hypertext. I definitely fall under the "user" category, accessing a webpage with a clear purpose, finding the information I need somewhere on the page, and leaving without reading all of the content. My husband, on the other hand, is a "browser." It is exceedingly difficult to construct and structure a website that will allow effective usability for both of these consumers.

Questions:
I was intrigued by Slatin's definition of a concept and in turn, that of hypertext. Slatin states, "Hypertext uses machine memory in a a way that has no analogues in the traditional text environment, where composition relies on the organization of human memory. It is the organization of memory in the computer and in the mind that defines hypertext and makes it fundamentally different from conventional text" (169). I would like to discuss this further to gain a deeper appreciation for his logic.