hypertext, technique for organizing computer databases or documents to facilitate the nonsequential retrieval of information. Related pieces of information are connected by preestablished or user-created links that allow a user to follow associative trails across the database. The linked data may be in a text, graphic, audio, or video format, allowing for multimedia presentations; when more formats than text are linked together, the technique is often referred to as hypermedia. Hypertext applications offer a variety of tools for very rapid searches for specific information; they are particularly useful for working with voluminous amounts of text, as are found in an encyclopedia or a repair and maintenance manual. See also information storage and retrieval; World Wide Web.

or hyperlink

Linking of related information by electronic connections in order to allow a user easy access between them. Conceptualized by Vannevar Bush (1945) and invented by Douglas Engelbart in the 1960s, hypertext is a feature of some computer programs that allows the user to select a word and receive additional information, such as a definition or related material. In Internet browsers, hypertext links (hotlinks) are usually denoted by highlighting a word or phrase with a different font or colour. Hypertext links create a branching or network structure that permits direct, unmediated jumps to related information. Hypertext has been used most successfully as an essential feature of the World Wide Web (see HTML; HTTP). Hyperlinks may also involve objects other than text (e.g., selecting a small picture may provide a link to a larger version of the same picture).

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