Unlinking the Link

The aim of this review paper is to provide a "big picture snapshot" of the multiple facets of hypermedia linking. In providing this snapshot, the paper overviews key issues in both categorizing these facets and exploiting them to design effective implementations of links. The presentation is structured around the process of untying the perception of the link and its capabilities from the limitations of defining it in terms of the currently most pervasive implementation of the link, namely links in HTML. In the process, the paper draws on the work of Paul Thistlewaite on the linking issues for large volatile hyperbases.