Annotated Bibliography

Douglas, J. Yellowlees. "Perception, Gaps and Connections", "Seeing Connections in Text and Hypertext". Gaps, Maps and Perceptions : What Hypertext Readers (Don't) Do. http://noel.pd.org/topos/perforations/perf3/douglas_p3.html   (28 Feb 2000)

Our perceptions create the illusion of continuity, sequence and causation as we sit in the cinema and watch a series of moving images when in fact, only flickering, still images exist. 

Human perception seems to comprise the ability both to perceive causal and intentional connections between events, states, occurrences etc. when these connections exist and also when they do not. Our tendency to perceive the world according to causal and intentional states seems endemic to our being human. Qualities of connectedness, sequence, and order are inextricably linked to the way we view the world.

In the web environment, hypertext links are the connections that bridge the very physical gaps between the text of nodes separated by virtual, three-dimensional space. They are a surface representation of connectivity between and among elements in the web environment, playing a role similar to that of sequence in a conventional text and simulating the connections in the mind of the author and the reader.

Yet, they have no content themselves and few cues which might allow readers to see them as anything more than a physical connection between two segments of text.

This article is pertinent to my preparation for Essay 2 because it touches on one of the central issues regarding hyperlinks— their signification.

With this article, I am provided with a first impression of the basis from which hyperlinks are borne and as such, how they should be treated.

The human mind’s need and tendency to seek connections, as claimed in the article and exemplified by the various experiments illustrated, may be the underlying significance of the existence of hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks exist chiefly because they signify connections between nodes. These connections may be conventional connections i.e connections that may be related by way of, borrowing Burbules’ terms, metonymies, metaphors, hyperboles, etc. or unconventional ones i.e. connections that relate to items that are seemingly randomly selected.

However, the article also contains statements about hyperlinks that I wish to refute. For instance, I do not agree with the author’s claim that hyperlinks contain no content in themselves — hyperlinks are loaded with content and although initially, they seem to be no more than a physical connection between two segments of text, a more critical examination (as I hope my essay is able to do) can and will prove the contrary to be true.