Take-Home Examination #1

LIS 385T.6, Summer 1998

Dr. John Leggett

 

  1. Question #1: Succinctly describe the MEMEX. What was its purpose? What is the essential feature of the MEMEX? What is the hypertext model of the MEMEX?

  2. Question #2: Explain the H-LAM/T system. Discuss the use of hypertext in the man-artifact interface. Explain the Neo-Whorfian hypothesis.

  3. Question #3: Discuss the notion of structured files. Give examples from Nelson's ELF and Engelbart's Augment.

  4. Question #4: What is a graphical browser? What problem, identified by Conklin, are graphical browsers supposed to address? For which hypertext models are they successful? Why?

  5. Question #5: Trace the influence of Andy van Dam on hypermedia system design. Include a brief discussion of each of the systems/features/people that are important.

  6. Question #6: Why was Smalltalk designed and built? What features of Smalltalk were essential for its environment? What is meant by "computer as active metamedium"?

  7. Question #7: Describe the transparency requirement for Zog. What current hypertext system adheres to this principle? Why is transparency an important design criteria?

  8. Question #8: Compare and contrast the hypertext models of NoteCards and Neptune/HAM. Which system had more impact on hyperbase systems? Why?

  9. Question #9: Describe Telesophy's data model from the user's perspective. Describe Telesophy's system architecture. Why is Telesophy an important system in the hypertext literature?

  10. Question #10: Describe the two key principles of the Boxer system. Why is Boxer an important system in the hypertext literature?