hopper, 1993 [4.1, abstract, overview, toc, switchboard, references]

4.1.6 Integrated Functions

In the courseware projects explored through this research, the need for a number of functions to co-exist in the same package was either recognized and incorporated in the beginning of the project, or recognized as imposing limitations to the project at some point in its existence if they were not present. In the ESCAPE project, HyperCard originally appeared to be able to represent both engineering structure and content through rudimentary databases of "linked" text or graphics and simulations created within Hypertalk. This multi-functionality is described by Lawler, "HyperCard mingles in its uniform appearance facilities for database construction, graphics manipulation, text processing, and simulation through programming." (Lawler, 1989). The multiple functions supported by HyperCard did serve as an advantage for the ESCAPE project, although the relatively primitive nature of each eventually served as a limitation, and the lack of network support ultimately led to the need to redirect the courseware project.
 
During the exploration of the Context32, TODOR and Mechanics 2.01 projects, brief mention was made of the lack of either simulation or graphic import capabilities respectively, but the lack of these functions was not portrayed as prohibiting the projects from achieving their goals. Because these projects were each associated with a select set of courses, the software seemed to have been successfully focused on the most important types of representations, and the lack of other functions appeared to be considered only a minor limitation in each context. In the writings and discussions surrounding the development of the AthenaMuse package used for the PGT project, the need for a tool to support multiple disciplines through multiple forms of representation was emphasized. The passage below illustrates the breadth of representations they wished to support:
 
From an educational standpoint, the purpose of the system was to provide support for three principal types of software-- interactive presentations, simulations, and reference materials. Presentations, either linear or branching, form the basis of expository teaching materials. Simulations give students control over dynamic system models based on graphic or video images, which is the most popular use of the workstations among MIT faculty. Reference materials are used to make large bodies of information accessible to student researchers, with tools to build such materials into their own notes and presentations. In the AthenaMuse architecture, all of these capabilities are integrated into a coherent environment, so that an author can freely mix the different kinds of materials in a single application. (Davis, Hodges & Sasnett, 1989, pp. 20-30)


 
The interest of the group associated with AthenaMuse's development in supporting multiple forms of representation developed because of the wide range of courses the software was to support. To meet these requirements the AthenaMuse team produced a multi-paradigm document system that let users describe different types of information.
 

We arrived at a mixed-paradigm model, following the principle that people use a variety of expressive tools, so no single approach would be efficient in all cases, thus the AthenaMuse architecture provides two general and powerful models for representing the structural organization of information, and two for describing processes of change. (Davis, et al., 1989, p. 34)

 
The four representations provided in AthenaMuse are directed graphs, dimensions (multidimensional spatial frameworks), declarative constraints, and procedural descriptions (language). These are integrated into one data model, so a developer can use all of them (Hodges, Sasnett & Ackerman, 1989).
 
AthenaMuse is an object oriented system that provides information processing support for text, graphics, video and audio. It allows one to create structured documents that combine all of these different kinds of information. Further, one can build these documents into complex fabrics of information, using the dynamic configurations found in hypermedia or other "low structure" systems, and also draw on more highly structured information found in conventional databases. (Davis, 1991, p. 16-2)

 
The key ability of this software is its support of multiple types of representation within a single package. The interaction of software packages with such rich representation schemes with networks could result in significantly more powerful forms of computing environments in the near future. Landow writes about an exciting vision of what the future may become through the use of electronic collaborative structures and greatly scaled up cross-server linking capabilities.
 
The development of literary hypertext will take place in an emerging global information environment of the archive, the computer, and telecommunications. Unlike the hub and spoke pattern of time-sharing mainframes with terminals, the new environment will be one in which information access and processing will be not just distributed, but also de-centered: any individual workstation will be able to archive virtual presence at any other node on the global network. Storage and processing power at the workstation level will increase by several orders of magnitude during the next decade; fibre optic links will provide near-instant access to massive textbases; literary workgroups will be largely able to disregard geographical constraints. The computer network itself can be seen as powerful metaphor, corresponding to a kind of animate hypermedia structure. The elements of the network include electronic mail, file transfer, computer conferencing, remote access to textbases and manipulation of them. (Landow, 1991, p. 41)
© Mary E. Hopper | MEHopper@TheWorld.com [posted 12/04/93 | revised 04/12/13]