Author:

Keywords:

web navigation, guided tours, hypermedia, object-orientation, hypertext, design, environment, system, Science & Technology, Technology, Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Electrical & Electronic, Telecommunications, Computer Science, Engineering, HYPERMEDIA, HYPERTEXT, SYSTEM, 08 Information and Computing Sciences, 09 Engineering, 10 Technology, Networking & Telecommunications, 40 Engineering, 46 Information and computing sciences

Abstract:

A key advantage of hypermedia systems such as the Web is that the user is able to navigate through the information space in a non-linear fashion. He can explore the interlinked documents according to his own interests and insights, instead of being confined to the rigid, linear structure of, e.g., pages in a book. A downside, however, is that this navigational freedom entails the risk of disorientation, especially in a gigantic hypertext such as the Web. This paper presents a context-based navigation paradigm for the Web and reconciles navigational freedom with a measure of linear guidance to prevent the user from becoming disoriented. For that purpose, "conventional" navigation along static links is complemented by run-time generated guided tours, which are derived dynamically from the context of a user's information requirements. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.