ISBN: 0-262-02291-5
Category: HyperText
Subject: H.1.2  Information Systems, MODELS AND
        PRINCIPLES, User/Machine Systems
        H.3.3  Information Systems, INFORMATION STORAGE
        AND RETRIEVAL, Information Search and
        Retrieval
        H.3.4  Information Systems, INFORMATION STORAGE
        AND RETRIEVAL, Systems and Software
        H.4.m  Information Systems, INFORMATION SYSTEMS
        APPLICATIONS, Miscellaneous
        I.2.0  Computing Methodologies, ARTIFICIAL
        INTELLIGENCE, General
        I.7.m  Computing Methodologies, TEXT PROCESSING,
        Miscellaneous
        J.0    Computer Applications, GENERAL
PagesinWholeWork: 459
ReviewNo: 9006-0455
Bibtype: Book
Series: Information systems
Review: COMPUTING REVIEWS TEXT
        \\
        BARRETT, EDWARD (Massachusetts Institute of
        Technology, Cambridge) (ED.)  9006-0455
        \\
        The society of text: hypertext, hypermedia, and the
        social construction of	information.
        \\
        MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1989, 459 pp., $37.50, ISBN
        0-262-02291-5.
        [Information systems.]
        \\
        This anthology of papers on computers, technical
        writing, and hypertext is loosely organized. As in any
        anthology, the papers vary in quality and coverage. No
        one reader is likely to be interested in all the
        topics covered.
        \\
        In his introduction, the editor explains that the
        title, The society of	text, is a reference to Marvin
        Minsky's book, The society of mind [1]. Barrett sees
        Minsky's book as upholding the tradition of cognitive
        science in which the computer serves as a model for
        the mind. Barrett rejects this tradition. He is
        interested in using the computer as a tool rather than
        as a model. In particular, Barrett uses the
        computer as a tool for writing, and he emphasizes that
        writing, with or without the computer, is a social
        phenomenon. Barrett joins other recent theorists, such
        as Bruffee [2], in explaining writing as ``social
        construction''-a process of communication among a
        group of writers and readers. Barrett argues that
        hypertext confirms this view of writing because a
        hypertext requires the active collaboration of one or
        more authors and many users. Barrett's argument here
        is compelling and deserves a fuller treatment than he
        gives it in his introduction.
        \\
        Barrett's introduction does not bear directly on many
        of the articles that follow. Most of them have nothing
        to say about the social construction of
        writing.The22essaysaregroupedinfourparts:
        \\
        (1) Hypertext and Hypermedia: Designing Systems for
        the Online User;(2) Multimedia and Nonlinear
        Information Architectures;(3) The Social Perspective:
        New Roles for Writers in the Computer Industry; and(4)
        Sensemaking, Learning, and the Online Environment.
        \\
        Part 1 contains general and rather obvious
        pronouncements on hypertext and
        itsuses.Part2 is more substantial: it offers descriptions
        of some important current hypertext systems by those
        who took part in their development. One essay covers
        the multimedia workstation developed for Project
        Athena at MIT. Peggy Irish and Randall Trigg describe
        the Notecards system. Norman Meyrowitz discusses the
        Intermedia project at Brown and makes a plea for
        including hypertextual linking as a standard feature
        in the design of future computer systems. Ben
        Schneiderman offers reflections on Hyperties, his
        hypertextual authoring and browsing system. None of
        the articles in Part 2 are technical; all of them show
        by example how hypertext works. This section of the
        book is therefore the most useful for a reader seeking
        an introduction to hypertext.
        \\
        Most of the articles in Part 3 deal with the
        profession of technical writing and the management of
        technical writing projects. The articles address a
        narrower audience than that addressed by the first two
        parts. A common theme here is that collaboration is
        the essence of technical writing. Writers and managers
        need to consider how to improve their collaborative
        skills, both through human interaction and through new
        computer tools that promote cooperative work. John
        Kirsch in his survey of trends points to the irony
        that less than one-fifth of the technical writers at
        large computer companies have written online
        documentation. If hypertext or hypermedia is going to
        change the nature of technical communication, then the
        current generation of technical writers will need to
        change their work habits and preferences. At the end
        of Part 3, Barrett adds his own article on the
        Educational Online System at MIT, expanding on his
        tantalizing remarks in the introduction about the
        writer and reader as collaborators in the social
        process of producing a text.
        \\
        Part 4 is the least well-focused. It includes a paper
        on the experience of the ACM in creating and
        publishing a hypertext, two papers on online messaging
        and help systems, an interesting discussion by Judith
        Ramey on ambiguities in the text of online messages
        and menus, and two papers on automated
        question-answering. None of these have much to do with
        any of the subjects advertised in the book's subtitle:
        hypertext, hypermedia, or the social construction of
        information.
        \\
        Parts 1 and 2 of this collection will interest those
        who want an introduction to hypertext and hypermedia;
        Parts 3 and 4 will appeal to those with a professional
        interest in technical writing either on paper or
        online. Barrett's analysis of the social construction
        of writing is perhaps the most original contribution
        in the volume and could be expanded to make a separate
        monograph.
        \\
        -Jay David Bolter, Chapel Hill, NC
        \\
        REFERENCES
        \\
        [1] MINSKY, M. The society of mind. Simon and
        Schuster, New York, 1986. See CR, Rev. 8803-0161.[2]
        BRUFFEE, K. A. Social construction, language, and the
        authority of knowledge: a bibliographical essay. Coll. 
        Engl. 48, 8 (Dec. 1986), 773-790.
        \\
        GENERALTERMS: DESIGN, DOCUMENTATION, HUMAN FACTORS,
        LANGUAGES, THEORY
Editor: Edward Barrett
Title: The society of text:  hypertext, hypermedia, and
        the social construction of information
Year: 1989
GeneralTerm: DESIGN
        DOCUMENTATION
        HUMAN FACTORS
        LANGUAGES
        THEORY
Price: $37.50
Publisher: MIT Press, Cambridge, MA