Generalised similarity analysis and pathfinder network scaling

This paper introduces a generic approach to the development of hypermedia information systems. This approach emphasises the role of intrinsic inter-document relationships in structuring and visualising a large hypermedia information space. In this paper, we illustrate the use of this approach based on three types of similarity measurements: hypertext linkage, content similarity and usage patterns. Salient patterns in these relationships are extracted and visualised in a simple and intuitive associated network. The spatial layout of a visualisation is optimised such that closely related documents are placed near to each other and only those intrinsic connections among them are shown to users as automatically generated virtual links. This approach supports self-organised information space transformation based on usage patterns and other feedback such that the visual structure of the information space is incrementally tailored to users' search and browsing styles. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.