ALI 2000
Language, Hypertext, and Multimedia

David Nathan

Introduction

This course will introduce participants to the concept of hypertext, and its central role in the evolution of computers into communication and media appliances. We will examine some of the information technologies and cultural/cognitive factors that have enabled and influenced this development: text properties, literacies, encoding, internet, multimedia, interfaces, and the "new media."

The course will be interactive. Participants will be encouraged to bring their own skills/experiences, and will collaboratively develop appropriate hypertext materials.

Aims

After this course, students should be able to:

appreciate the continuities between human communication technologies, from language to the internet
understand the origins and properties of hypertexts of various kinds
critique hypertext implementations, and be aware of hypertext design principles
apply basic techniques of text design, and document markup
be aware of the nature, usages and constraints of multimedia elements in hypertext materials

Classes

Class 1:	Hypertext: text, tradition, technology
Class 2:	Implementing hypertext: HTML, XML, and information structure
Class 3:	Hypertext architecture, authoring, interfaces and multimedia
Class 4:	New media: code, computer, and community

Readings and links

See list of items in reading package:

list of reading package items listed in order of class sessions
for reading package items by class session, see the class page (above)
other useful web links

Reading package by Class

Class	#	Title	Detail
1	4	Landow, George P. 1998 Hypertext 2.0. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.	Ch 1 1-32 Hypertext: An Introduction, Ch 3 60-79 Visual Elements in Print Text
1	5	Levinson, P. 1998. The soft edge: a natural history and future of the information revolution. London: Routledge	Ch 2 The first digital medium, Ch 13 Hypertext and author/reader inversions
1	8	Mott, B., Rion, R., & Hergé. 1991. Tintin Illustrated Dictionary. Edinburgh: Harrap	p 32, 140
2	2	Harold, Elliotte Rusty 1998 XML: Extensible Markup Language. Foster City, CA: IDG Books.	Ch 1 An Eagle's Eye View of XML 3-15
2	11	Pardi, W. 1999. XML in Action: Web Technology. Redmond: Microsoft Press	Ch 2 Enter XML 16-27
3	3	Kress, G. 1997. "Visual and verbal modes of representation in electronically mediated communication: the potentials of new forms of text." in Snyder, Ilana (ed.) Page to Screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. 53-79
3	6	Mandel, T. 1997. Elements of User Interface Design. New York: Wiley	Ch 16 The New World of PC-Internet User Interfaces 383- 423
3	9	Nathan, D. 1996. "Caught in a Web of Murri Words: Making and Using the Gamilaraay Web Dictionary", in Library Automated Systems Information Exchange, Vol 27 No 4 (December 1996), pp 35-42
3	10	Nielson, Jakob. 1995. Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond. Cambridge, MA: Academic	Ch 12 Repurposing existing content 323-361
4	1	Business Week. October 4, 1999. "Activists without borders." Pete Engardio
4	7	McLuhan, E. & Zingrone, F. (eds) 1995. Essential McLuhan. New York: Basic Books	Ch 14 A McLuhan Sourcebook 270-296
4	12	Scientific American. March 1997. "Filtering information on the internet." Paul Resnick
4	13	Scientific American. March 1997. "Interfaces for searching the web." Marti A. Hearst
4	14	Spender, D. 1995. Nattering on the net: women, power, and cyberspace. North Melbourne: Spinifex.	Ch 7 Women, power and cyberspace 161-247
4	15	Wired 5.03 (March 1997) "The World According to Eco." Interview of Umberto Eco by Lee Marshall	p 145-149, 194-5