Hypertext Deixis

This study is based on earlier work [Loehr 97] investigating the relationship between hypertext linking and ordinary deixis. That work was an exploratory foray into a brand-new realm, and attempted to answer some basic questions: Just what forms do hypertext links take? Given the intuitively deictic nature of hypertext links, is there any quantitative relationship between how Web authors use hypertext links and deictics? Finally, given the brand-new genre of Web documents, does this relationship change as authors become more experienced with hypertext authoring? The first study, while illuminating, was unable to confirm any quantitative relationship between hypertext links and deictics. The goal of the current research is to focus and refine the methodology used earlier, in attempt to get a clearer answer. Specifically, the earlier methodology had several flaws, which I will attempt to repair. First, in attempting to quantitatively m..