Hypertext vs. DBMS

As the technology of computer processing and its attendant
activities of data input, storage, and output have evolved, so
too has the practical viability of Vannevar Bush's initial
concept for an integrated information system.  The contemporary
manifestation of Bush's idea is a "hypermedia" system which frees
knowledge (information with structure) from the constraints of
purely sequential or hierarchical relationships.  In a sense,
hypermedia is a DBMS that not only indexes information as a
relational database might, but also connects screens of network
information using associative links.  However, hypertext systems
represent a radical departure from relational databases by virtue
of the indexing of information by idea content rather than by
words, and by a retrieval mechanism that facilitates access to
information resources regardless of the user's level of
understanding.  

<hfig06.pcx>  A Hierarchical Structure with Network Links

Hypertext databases consist of information cells called "nodes". 
These nodes are linked by hierarchical and non-hierarchical
structures.  The structural cross linking of information nodes
permits non-hierarchical browsing (or discretionary navigation)
through information fields.  The fundamental attributes that
differentiate hypertext from DBMS result from this capacity for
constructing multiple layers of associative relationships between
information nodes.  In fact, NASA has explored the potential for
using a hypertext system to index the massive information base
that will support the design, construction, and maintenance of
the anticipated space station project.  In effect, NASA has
concluded that relational databases are inappropriate for the
necessary information management requirements, and that a
hypertext strategy will provide a more effective structure for
the knowledge base (Neil Larson: oral communication on 2/12/89).

<cfile20>   Database Management Systems (DBMS)
<cfile27>   Memex
<cfile29>   Evolution of Hypertext
<dfile33>   HSPD: Why DBMS?