|
A self-contained article is an article that is written so that it can be understood not only by people who already have some or extensive knowledge about the topic but also by people who have little or no knowledge about it. This contrasts with many articles in scientific and technical journals, which are understandable only by people who are already experts in the field. It is accomplished through the use of clear writing and the inclusion of definitions and explanations for all specialized terms and concepts. Self-contained articles are fundamental to the LINMO (linked information modules) model. This model describes content-rich web sites that make their content as useful and convenient to as wide a range of people as possible, including those with varying levels of knowledge about the topic and with different levels of quality of Internet connections. The model accomplishes this by describing the optimal form of modularity. A module is a self-contained component of a system (e.g., a product) which has a well-defined interface (i.e., a shared boundary or interface) to other components of the system. There is typically some degree of substitutability among identical and/or non-identical modules within a system or between systems. In the LINMO model, the optimal modules are self-contained articles, whose interfaces with other self-contained articles on the same web site are hyperlinks. The reasons that each page on a LINMO-compatible web site should be a self-contained article are: (1) It is consistent with the fundamental LINMO goal of maximizing the usefulness and convenience of the content. (2) In a mature LINMO-compatible web site (i.e., one in which all pages were completed), each specialized term and concept would have a page devoted to it to which the reader would be directed by a hyperlink from the first instance of its mention in each article. However, LINMO-compatible web sites are designed to be produced one page (or a few pages) at a time (i.e., in a modular fashion), in contrast to hard copy (i.e., printed on paper) books, and thus many or most of the pages dedicated to defining and explaining specialized terms and topics would not be available for some time, perhaps even several years. (3) LINMO-compatible web sites are designed to maximize usability not only when viewed on standard computer monitors but also when accessed by other means. For example, the situation can be visualized in which a web page is printed out for individual use or use by students in a classroom1, perhaps because no individual computers are available (which is the case in much of the world) or perhaps because someone wants to study it while riding on a train. Thus, hyperlinks will not be available, even if they exist on the web version, but the contents of the page can be easily understood. (4) There is typically a continuous range of knowledge levels about any particular topic within the potential audience rather than just the discrete categories of novice, intermediate and expert. Thus, by making each page entirely self-contained, it can easily be useful to people anywhere within this range rather than some narrow section of it. It could be argued that attempting to make every page a self-contained article would result in some redundancy and conflict with the goal of minimizing page byte size. However, the increments in page size and in the size of the site as a whole are relatively small, and they are of very minor significance as compared with the substantial advantages.
________
Created May 8, 2006. |