Key:
External Links
Internal Links
Bibliography

(non-sequitur)

If "the key element of the hypertextual structure is the link" then the second most important element of the Internet must be the search engine. While hyperlinks operate on a micro-level, search engines operate on the macro-level, dishing out links to the readers. Both hyperlinks and search engines offer the same services to the readers: choices. It is the search engine however that solves the user's problem of finding and choosing from the millions of documents available the world over. 

This dependency cannot be exaggerated. Just imagine surfing the net without the search engine.

The Internet would never have taken off. Users would have to rely on what print readers had relied on (before the OPAC was invented)– the word of mouth, reviews by the ‘authorities’, countless lists. They would not have the kind of exposure and independence of choice they have today.

There are now numerous search engines online each offering a service of choices to the readers. Search results go up to millions of documents (with of course, increasing irrelevancy) letting the websites compete on an international level. .

The search engine can even be a navigation tool where the website is large enough e.g. Blake’s archives

However, search engines have also created an ill – the intolerant reader.

While the search engine must be the single most essential tool on the Net (next to the hyperlink, it also breeds intolerance and impatience in the user. The user would not stay with the text if they cannot find what they want there but has become in general quicker at judging and at discarding the text. A reason is that many of the texts on the Internet are amateurish. Editorial discretion and printing costs have ensure that the content of a printed book are kept at a minimal standard (with certain notable exceptions such as the Singapore Ghost Stories). With the Internet, there is no guarantee for any kind of a standard. The user therefore must pick and choose quickly. Because of the search engine, the user can immediately go elsewhere for information s/he needs. There is no inconvenience in discarding a text for an other.

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