Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why?

“The link is the basic element of hypertext, and researchers have long recognized that links provide semantic relationships for users. Yet little work has been done to understand the nature of these relationships, particularly in conjunction with the purposes of organizational/informational Web sites. This paper explores the semantic and rhetorical principles underlying link development and proposes a systematic, comprehensive classification of link types that would be of use to researchers and Web production teams.” Clare Harrison

—Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why?FirstMonday)

Harrison’s taxonomy of links: Authorizing, Commenting, Enhancing, Exemplifying, Mode-Changing, Referencing/Citing, Self-Selecting. I think that “Mode Changing” is too general a category to be useful, though it is a useful step towards acknowledging that hypertext is often an interface to some other real-world activity (such as booking a plane ticket or buying a gift).