Elements of a Hypermedia

Hypermedia is media with additional structure. An additional lay of interconnection is added enableing deeper engagment with a text, and communication between the reader and author. This aditional lay is the hyperlayer, and it sits on top of and between the underlying content. At a sufficient level of abstraction, hypermedia simply provides a system of links.

Key Aspects

The hyperlayer has 4 key aspects:
    Structure
    Attatchment
    Reference
    Citation

Structure

The structure, i.e. headings, subheadings ect in a traditional document, of the underlying media as represented in the hyperlayer so that the system can hook into them. It should be noted that different kinds of media have differnet structure, and for the hypermedia to handel it, it must support that structure. The structure transalates into the presentation of the media. The media its self is content + structure. The hypermedia client uses the structure to present the content to the reader, and also enable the linking and interlationships that the hyperstructure enables.
A hierarhcy of sections, subsections, lists ect, is the structure of text.
Extention in time is the structure of audio.
Extention in time and space is the structure of a video.
Extention in space is the structure of maps.
They are all valid media, and a complete hypermedia system must support there structure.

Attatchment

Attatchment is a mechanism in which one pease of media can be associated with another. An example would be marginal notes, and footnotes. In general you ought be able to attach any pease of media to a point or region within another pease of media.
Visualy, an attatchment should apperar on screen and visualy connected to the point its attatched too.

Reference

A reference is a part of a media that points to another media or part of another media, so that the connection can be seen and vollowed. A reference does not contain the information being referenced.
Visualy, A reference is visibly traversable, but requiers some interaction to know were it is going to reference. It most simmlary to the <a> tag in html, although a full hypersystem should keep track of backlinks.

Citation

A citation is like a reference but it contains the information its self. It is like a quote. It should be able to be traversed back to its origin. This is also called transclusion.
Visualy, A citatino is transparently assmebled from another point, and it can be treversed to its orign.