Hypertext is a way to organize information in a digital format that makes use of traditional text structures (words, sentences, pages, articles or chapters, books, and libraries) as enhanced by the multiple linkages (words to words, words to sentences, sentences to sentences, sentences to pages, pages to pages, pages to chapters, and so on) possible in cyberspace. When hypertexts further employ graphics, images, audio, and video, they become hypermedia. By both enhancing and subverting traditional assumptions about the linear reading of a text (i.e., word after word, sentence after sentence, page after page) hypertexts also both expand ethical reflection and create ethical issues related to access, the implications of linking choices, and more.

Structures and Opportunities

The architecture of information in the digital context consists of three basic elements: nodes, links, and anchors. In hypertext, information is distributed in building units called nodes. Nodes store a large...