THE KEY to the Web's success lies in its ability to present information in a non-linear format. Though a user may begin with a given starting point (often known as a home page), where to go from there is up to the whim of that user. Order becomes irrelevant, at least in the tradition sense of reading a book from one end to another. Because the Web allows you to click and choose your next subject, you can skip over entire sections of information while nesting through others in great depth.

The history of hypertext begins in the year 1930, when Vannevar Bush first conceives the idea of MEMEX. Fifteen years later Bush publishes �As We May Think� and introduces MEMEX to the scientific world. MEMEX is a data storage and retrieval unit that would allow users to access information on any topic quickly and efficiently. With MEMEX you would not have to go to the library and search for books or articles; you would simply need to input your query into MEMEX and it would gather all the information available for you.

In the year 1965 Ted Nelson coins the term �Hypertext.� Nelson decided to create a text handling system as his term project for his masters of sociology. While he did not complete this project during the term, Nelson gave his first paper at the annual Association of Computing Machinery conference five years later. It is worth noting that Nelson began this project before the word processor was invented and was forced to use assembler language on a mainframe computer system.

In 1968 the oNLine System was demonstrated; which led to the creation of the mouse. The mouse allowed people to move a cursor around the screen and click on the item they wanted, thereby allowing them to access the information much easier. By 1974 Nelson had named his concept of a hypertext system. The name he gave it was Xanadu. Nelson describes Xanadu as a � Magical place of literary memory.� Even though Nelson�s Xanadu was never realized, his concepts are present in much of today�s hypertext.

1980 saw the development of a hypertext system called [create Enquire], which was created by Tim Berners-Lee for his own personal use. Enquire allowed Berners-Lee to store information and used random associations. In 1989 Berners-Lee proposed a global hypertext system that would come to be know as the World Wide Web. This project was designed to let people work together and share knowledge across the globe.

By the year 1998 people all over the world would be accessing Berners-Lee�s World Wide Web; and would be utilizing the hypertext system to communicate information. Allowing them to share knowledge with any one.