Case studies of navigational patterns in constructive hypertext

Abstract This paper describes hypertext navigational patterns used by seven authors/readers using a general purpose hypertext editing system to create documents of personal relevance. Five patterns were observed: Linear Traversal, Side Trip, Star, Extended Star, and Chaotic. Navigation in these patterns was facilitated by software utilities allowing traversals among unlinked nodes. This capability is recommended as a standard feature of future hypertext systems.