Aquanet: A Hypertext Tool to Hold Your Knowledge in Place

Hypertext systems have traditionally focused on information management and presentation. In contrast, the Aquanet hypertext system described in this paper is designed to support knowledge structuring tasks. Aquanet is a browser-based tool that allows users to graphically represent information in order to explore its structure. In this paper, we discuss our motivaticms for developing Aquanet. We then describe the basic concepts underlying the tool and give an overview of the user interface. We close with some brief comments about our initial experiences with the tool in use and some of the directions we see the Aquanet research moving in the near future. 1. iNTRODUCTION The power of hypertext derives from its dual nature: hypertext is simultaneously a tool for managing and presenting information and a tool for representing the underlying structure of that information. Aithough this essential duaiity has been duly noted in the hypertext Merature, by far the largest part of the effort in buiiding, using, and researching hypertext remains on the information management and presentation side of the duality