|
Resultantly, I feel that Linder's page, while valiant in it's attempt to allow access to information to famous trials that have occurred, is severely lacking in its use of hypertext. It refuses so many of the possibilities:
by its failure to incorporate external links in the body of the essays in each trial, to either primary or secondary sources;
by using historical arguments and debates sparingly in his essays. Linder tends to use only quotations but give no direct access to this information through links or references--you are forced to consult the bibliography to find out where the information came from;
in the presentation of Linder's argument. The information that Linder provides is presented as an essay, in full form on a single page, and is clearly linear--as such, it rejects the possibilities of hypertext in allowing multiple viewpoints or angles at which to approach the argument or factors that Linder presents for our consideration; [see Janet H. Murray's Hamlet on the Holodeck, Free Press, 1997 (Chapter 6: Transformation) for more information on kaleidoscopic viewpoints possible on the web]
the lack of feedback able to be given to the site in order to promote discussion of the issues raised in the trials covered. Visitors can send Linder mail but there is no sense of an on-going development of each trial, despite his assertions that when building a website, a sense of community and communication should be established;
the lack of interactivity within the site. There are no activities to participate in (for example polls, recreations of a scene etc) or discussions about the issues or historians involved with them, which would encourage further consideration of the issues raised in the trials, and;
due to it's (en)closed nature, it enables closure, the very antithesis of history where the aim is to move progressively closer to understanding but, due to the many viewpoints available, will never a single conclusion. [Again, refer to Chapter 6 of Janet H. Murray's Hamlet on the Holodeck for more information.]
|
|
