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From a Set of Technical Documents to a Hypertext System on the Web
Introduction
Yannick Marchand, Jean-Luc Guérin, Jean-Paul Barthès
Université de Technologie de Compiègne
U.R.A. C.N.R.S. Nº 817 HeuDiaSyC
B.P. 529 - 60205 Compiègne Cedex - France
E-mail : {marchand,jlguerin,barthes}@hds.utc.fr
Abstract: Mosaic and Netscape have democratised Internet and popularised the notion of
hypertext. Although we are clearly satisfied in having access to large amounts of
information, we can, on the contrary, regret that at the same time the concept of hypertext
has been simplified to such an extent that it has eclipsed some of the original defined goals
and hopes of its creators. This article has two objectives. Firstly, to exhibit how this
departure from the creator’s ideas occurred. We will therefore take a look at the origins of
hypertext by considering the aspirations of its creators, namely Vannevar Bush, Douglas
Engelbart, Theodor Nelson, and also Paul Otlet, an often overlooked visionnary author.
Secondly, nevertheless, we will illustrate how it is possible to create a ‘true’ hypertext on
the Web. The hypertext prototype (entitled ‘Nestor’) that we present has been developed for
France Télécom and is notably based upon the coupling of an object oriented database and
Netscape through the intermediary of a script language.
Initially conceived in the U.S.A. in 1969, during the cold war, for the benefit of a military preoccupied by an
eventual rupture of communications, the Internet was immediately used by research bodies and universities, in
order to exchange their ideas. It was with this perspective in mind that the World Wide Web was created, to
support a hypermedia dedicated to building information servers on the Internet. Created in March 1989, on the
initiative of Tim Berners-Lee [Berners-Lee 94] for the community of physicians at the Centre d’Etudes et de
Recherches Nucléaires (CERN) in Geneva, its aim was to centralise scientific results, publications and
documentation. The Web was destined to be a great success and was transformed into a cultural and social
phenomena when, in February 1993, Marc Andreessen of the National Center for Super Computing, University
of the Illinois, U.S.A., edited the first version of NCSA Mosaic [NCSA 93]. This graphical interface and
Netscape will greatly accelerate the development of the Internet. The Internet already has millions of users and
will soon be affordable to the average household and, and as a direct consequence, it is attracting the interest of
companies throughout the world.
As the Web has been completely successfull, due to the fact that it retrieves information in a quick, powerful
and intuitive manner, the approach and the technology used, especially the hypertext, will become well known.
Unfortunately though, the concept of hypertext has been simplified. In order to understand how this concept
could lose some of its original meaning, it is necessary to take a fresh look at the precursers of hypertext and
describe their motivating factors. This will facilitate the presentation of ‘Nestor’, a prototype hypertext for the
Web that we have developed for CNET [1] at Lannion, one of the main research centers of France Télécom.
The Founding Principles of Hypertext
The names of Vannevar Bush, Douglas Engelbart, and Theodor Nelson invariably get mentioned when the
recent history of hypertext is under discussion. Indeed, the projects Memex [Bush 45], Augment [Engelbart
68], and Xanadu [Nelson 88], that are expressions of new ideas or concrete realisations, have been crucial to
the development of this research domain.
[1] Centre National d’Etudes des Télécommunications