LINMO

The Model

LINMO (linked information modules) is a model of the optimized organization and presentation of information for web sites that focus on some specific topic. The topic can be either broad or narrow, and the content can be primarily or entirely textual.

Optimizing in this context refers to making the site as useful as possible to the largest possible audience. This includes people (1) with highly divergent levels of knowledge about the topic (ranging from beginners to experts), (2) with varying levels of education, (3) for whom the language of the site is a second or third language and (4) with varying levels of quality of Internet connections.

The model is simple. It merely states that the optimal module for organizing and presenting the information on such a web site is in the form of self-contained, but interlinked, pages, each focusing on a narrow subtopic of the larger topic and each having a basically inverted pyramid structure. This is very different from the optimal modules for hard copy (i.e., printed on paper) books in several important respects as a result of two key differences in web technology. Other characteristics of such a web site are generally identical to those of well-crafted hard copy books.

A main feature of the web is that it provides the opportunity for an associative arrangement of information, although that opportunity is often not fully exploited. The LINMO model describes a web site in which that opportunity is fully exploited and in which the linear arrangement of information that is characteristic of hard copy books is largely eliminated. An optimized associative arrangement of information offers substantial advantages over both a non-optimized associative arrangement and a linear arrangement.

Although the model itself is simple, its implementation can be a little confusing, especially for authors and web developers not yet experienced with it. Thus, it is accompanied by a set of relatively simple and largely intuitive guidelines that facilitate creating compliant web sites.

Modules

A model can be defined as a representation, pattern or description, typically a simplified one that captures the most essential principles or concepts. A module (which is very different from a model despite the similarity of spelling and pronunciation) is a self-contained component of a system (e.g., of a product) which has a well-defined 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.

The development of more efficient forms of modularization has been fundamental to lowering the cost and improving the quality of an extensive range of goods and services (from firearms and sewing machines in the nineteenth century to electronic products and even computer programs in the late twentieth century). This resulted not only in substantial savings and other direct benefits for consumers, but it has also played a key role in the rise of modern industrial economies and their continued growth and prosperity.

The development of improved forms of modularization is not always easy, and it can take time. This is largely because the optimal modules for any product or other system are typically not a static target, but rather a continuously changing one as a result of both the development of new products and the development of new technologies with which to create the modules.

Modules can be physical or logical. The two can coexist in the same system and are usually very different. For example, in the case of a hard copy book, the basic physical module is the page. However, the basic logical module is the chapter, and in some cases sections of chapters as well. That is, related information is organized in a linear manner into chapters, and each of these modules likewise has a linear interface with other modules. Because the amount of information in any chapter can vary, and is generally longer than a single page, each chapter usually extends over multiple pages. This system has proved over hundreds of years of publishing to be highly efficient for writers and publishers as well as for their readers.

Logical Pages and Hyperlinks

The nature of the most efficient module for organizing and presenting information is very different for the web as compared with hard copy books. This is the result of the very different technology involved, mainly the facts that on the web (1) pages cease to exist as physical modules and, instead, become logical modules (i.e., logical pages) and (2) hyperlinks become available. The combination of these two differences together with a relatively simple restructuring in the way pages are written is sufficient to allow substantial advantages the for presentation of information on the web as compared with in hard copy books.

Logical pages are very different from physical pages in several ways. One of the most important is that they can be any length; that is, they can contain any amount of content, in sharp contrast to the fixed length of paper pages in printed books.

This variable length makes it possible for every logical page to become a complete article in itself. It is only necessary for the user to scroll up and down a page (e.g., with the mouse wheel or with the scroll bar on the right hand edge of a browser window) rather than click on links to access various sections of the article that are on multiple logical pages. Vertical scrolling is often easier for users than clicking on links, and it is generally faster (i.e., the total time for page downloading and rendering), particularly where Internet connections are slow or erratic.

A self-contained article is one that is useful for people with a wide range of knowledge levels without having to refer to other pages. It is created by using a modified form of the inverted pyramid structure that is commonly used in newspaper articles. This structure consists of first providing a brief summary of the article and by briefly defining or explaining specialized terms and concepts as they are used. These definitions and explanations create some redundancy on a site, but the resulting increase in the byte size of pages and the site as a whole is minor as compared with the benefits.

For those readers who want to learn more about a term of concept, the first occurrence of that term or concept in the article is a hyperlink that will take them to another page on the site which is dedicated to that term or concept if such page is available. Each such target page has the same structure as the page from which it is linked; that is, it has an inverted pyramid structure with all specialized terms and concepts defined and hyperlinked if appropriate pages are available.

The logical page replaces the traditional chapter of printed books. It also eliminates other features of such books that are associated with a linear arrangement of information, such as page numbers and rigid tables of contents. Tables of contents can still be used if desired, but it becomes possible to have multiple tables of contents, each with a different ordering of pages for a different purpose, such as for different types of readers.

Moreover, traditional glossaries also become obsolete. This is because each item that would have been a glossary item in a hard copy book is put on a separate page and each of those pages resembles every other page in that it has an inverted pyramid structure, hyperlinks, etc. Another way of stating this is that every content page on the site becomes a glossary item for at least one other page on the site.

Benefits for Authors and Users

The main benefit of applying the LINMO model is that it helps make each page of a web site as well as the site as a whole as useful as possible to the widest possible audience. However, in addition to those benefits accruing directly to users, there are also substantial benefits that can initially accrue directly to the author but which eventually translate into benefits for users as well by making more and better content available, by making it available sooner and by making corrections and updates available sooner. These generally make the author's job easier and more productive, and they result in large part from the replacement of the linear relationship of information by logically independent pages. They include:

(1) Allowing the addition of any completed subtopic to the site at a time, rather than having to wait for an entire chapter to be completed. It is often the case that writers prefer to work out of sequence, for example because (a) some subtopics are easier to write about than others, (b) material for some subtopics is available before or after others and (c) working on some subtopics leads to ideas for creating additional subtopics.

(2) Eliminating the need to force topics into some artificial linear arrangement (e.g., chapters and sections thereof), as such arrangements are often not appropriate or multiple possible linear arrangements could exist, none of which might be optimal.

(3) Allowing focusing on writing one narrow topic at a time, rather than an entire chapter. It has long been recognized that often the best work can be done by such narrow focus. Indeed, this is part of the highly successful Unix philosophy, which says that the best way to write programs is to write small, simple programs each of which does one thing well instead of trying to write large, complex programs that do multiple things. That is, the article or program should be sufficiently narrow that a single human mind can comprehend it in its entirety at one time.

(4) Allowing correcting, updating or expanding one narrow subtopic (i.e., one page) at a time and replacing just that page on the site when completed. This can be much easier than performing the same operations on an entire chapter or part thereof in a work with a traditional book structure, because each each page is narrowly focused and logically independent of the others.

(5) Minimizing or eliminating the perceived need for a conventional on-site search mechanism. This is because the site becomes structured, with the help of the guidelines about page structure, hyperlinks, navigation, indexes, etc., so that it is extremely easy for users not only find information about the desired topic, but that information will be the best source of information about the topic on the site. Although search mechanisms have become popular in recent years, in many cases they can return useless results. Also, not having to be concerned about search mechanisms helps keep the coding extremely simple so that skilled authors (most of who are likely to know little more than basic HTML) will be able to focus on the content and its presentation.