Aside from defining what exactly "hypertext" is (which others are doing very well), what I am most interested in about hypertext is the way in which it changes the relationship and role of the writer and reader.

Consider this analogy of reading/writing to that of a museum visitor and museum curator/docent: In our print-based, linear setting, the visitor/reader enters the museum/text and decides to take the tour from the docent/writer. The docent/writer leads the visitor/reader through the rooms of the museum according to their (the docent/writer's) sequence--page to page, chapter to chapter, period room to period room.

In the hypertext setting, the visitor/reader enters the museum and wanders wherever they wish. There is no guided tour. However, as they enter different rooms the docent/writer appears to talk to them.

I don't know if this is an accurate or helpful analogy, but it seems to capture the profound change that occurs in hypertext to the writer/reader relationship.

Lennie Irvin
San Antonio College