A study on the contributions of hypertext to the flux of information in an electronic medium

This work establishes a historical, conceptual and technical correlation between hypertext and the electronic flux of information. It begins with a discussion on the historical retrospect of hypertext from a perspective that considers it a part in the evolving processes of registration and dissemination of knowledge, a position in disagreement with the authors who defend the visionary character attributed to Vannevar Bush; thus, the first conceptual discourses that came close to what would later be materialized as the hypertext, are attributed to other important names, such as Paul Otlet. The article approaches the importance of hypertext, as a resource that allows greater correlation between users and the stocks of knowledge, presenting some of its most important characteristics, such as interactivity. It proceeds with a brief presentation of a bibliometric analysis of scientific production on hypertext, in the area of Information Science, published in Brazilian periodicals and international databases during the years 1990-2002. The results were published in a periodical specialized in the area. This article also discusses the correlation between the utilization of hypertext resources and the processes of information (construction, communication and utilization), presenting a review of the literature that includes, besides the conceptual debates, reports on the experiences in the utilization of hypertext. And it concludes with the systematization of its contents.