Tech Report HCIL-90-09

Plaisant, C. (Nov. 1990)
Guide to opportunities in volunteer archaeology - case study of the use of a hypertext system in a museum exhibit
Hypertext/Hypermedia Handbook, Berk E. & Devlin, J., Eds., McGraw-Hill (1991) 498-505. Also Sparks of Innovation in Human-Computer Interaction, Shneiderman, B., Ed., Ablex (June 1993) 223-229.
HCIL-90-09, CS-TR-2559, CAR-TR-523

This case study shows how a hypertext system was used in a traveling exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution. The database about archaeology was constructed by a professor and students of the history department of the University of Maryland. Regular upd ates of the database were made for each new venue of the exhibit. Finally the database was translated into French and automatically rebuilt to be used in Canada. Helpful features of the hypertext system as well as the difficulties encountered are describ ed. System users were observed in the museum and collected usage data was analyzed.