MESH: A Model-Based Approach to Hypermedia Design

Abstract

The term hypermedia denotes an approach to computer data organization in a manner similar to the functioning of the human brain. In essence, human cognition is organized as a semantic network in which related concepts are linked together. New information we come across is integrated into our mind’s semantic structures of existing knowledge. These structures allow for the stored information to be accessed by association. A precursor of current hypermedia systems was mentioned as early as in 1945, i.e. long before the introduction of the modern computer, by (Bush, 1945). He described an imaginary device called Memex as “a sort of mechanized private file and library … in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory”. One of the key concepts of Memex was said to be its ability to link items together such that they could be accessed by association, rather than through indexing.