Preparing Encyclopedias for CD-ROM

Abstract

Searching and browsing in paper-based reference works and encyclopedias is especially difficult when you need to browse through multiple volumes. Creating a hypertext system with a complete set of reference works or a complete encyclopedia on it can make it a lot easier for someone to find the information he or she is searching for. To make it easier and better for the user, such a hypertext system should contain the following search mechanisms:

• Search on (partial) keywords. Sometimes it may make sense to distinguish different types of keywords: generic, names, dates, etc.

• Search on (partial) topic titles. The system should be able to produce an alphabetical list of topic titles to browse through and select from.

• Search of topic titles within subject fields. The system should be able to produce an alphabetical list of all topic titles of a selected set of subject fields. Subject fields could be as wide as physics or as specialized as chaos theory, which may be a subset of the first.

• Browse subject fields. A hierarchical list of the available subject fields.

• Hypertext links from references to the related parts of the reference work or encyclopedia.

• Free text search. Because this can be very slow, due to the possibly large volume of text in which to search, it might be a good idea to have the user select a subject field first.

• History list. To give the user an overview of all topic already seen, and to retrace his steps.