What are hypertext and hypermedia? How do they differ?
The OED Additions Series defines hypertext as Text which does not form a single sequence and which may be read in various orders; specially text and graphics … which are interconnected in such a way that a reader of the material (as displayed at a computer terminal, etc.) can discontinue reading one document at certain points in order to consult other related matter. Theodore `Ted’ Nelson, who first coined the terms hypertext and hypermedia, wrote in Literary Machines that `As popularly conceived, [hypertext] is a series of text chunks connected by links which offer the reader different pathways.’ Neither hypertext nor hypermedia require the use of links. Hypermedia is similar to hypertext but includes media other than text, e.g. a hypermedia document could include text and graphics, or sound and animation. Mark Bernstein has pointed out that, in practice, many hypertext documents have some graphical content (just as texts often include illustrations). Note that the definition quoted
