Metadoc: An adaptive hypertext reading system

Abstract

Presentation of textual information is undergoing rapid transition. Millennia of experience writing linear documents is gradually being discarded in favor of non-linear hypertext writing. In this paper, we investigate how hypertext — in its current node-and-link form — can be augmented by an adaptive, user-model-driven tool. Currently the reader of a document has to adapt to that document — if the detail level is wrong the reader either skims the document or has to consult additional sources of information for clarification. The MetaDoc system not only has hypertext capabilities but also has knowledge about the documents it represents. This knowledge enables the document to modify its level of presentation to suit the user. MetaDoc builds and dynamically maintains a user model for each reader. The model tailors the presentation of the document to the reader. The three-dimensionality of MetaDoc allows the text presented to be changed either by the user model or through explicit user action. MetaDoc is more a documentation reading system rather than a hypertext navigation or reading tool. MetaDoc is a fully developed and debugged system that has been applied to technical documentation.