Applying Research on the Uses and Cognitive Effects of Hypermedia to the Study of the World Wide Web

This article situates the technological and historical origins of the World Wide Web in hypermedia systems that were conceptualized during the World War II era and first developed decades before the Web. The article then reviews the cross-disciplinary literature on hypermedia, which has developed over the past decade or so in education and educational technology, computer science, library and information science, psychology, and even geography. This review begins with a summary of underlying theory relevant to hypermedia, then focuses on the existing research on both the uses and the effects of hypermedia. The article discusses how the theory and research on hypermedia may or may not be extended to apply to the uses and effects of the Web. Finally, the implications of hypermedia theory and research, and its connections to traditional communication uses and effects research, are identified to provide suggestions for future research on the Web in the field of communication.

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