Economic constraints in hypertext

Abstract

Hypertext organization is being touted as the appropriate data organization for effective CD-ROM information retrieval. But the producer of a hypertext database incurs significant costs in providing these benefits because of the expense of constructing indices and linkages. This research investigates the cost of constructing a hypertext database and provides a straightforward approach to forecasting costs of creating and maintaining a hypertext database. Cost forescasting can determine whether organizations can internally fund a hypertext database; it can also determine whether producers can afford to bring hypertext databases or technology to market