FN ISI Export Format VR 1.0 PT J TI Complex Operations in a Distributed, Network-Like Information Space AF Kuhlen, Rainer Rittberger, Marc Bekavac, Bernard AU Kuhlen, R Rittberger, M Bekavac, B AB In searching for information hypertext only offers tools for browsing or navigating through an information space. Obviously, one needs additional tools when interacting with large and growing hypertexts to select, identify and criticize information relevant to a user’s needs. Traditional information retrieval techniques [Belkin & Croft 87] can be very helpful in hypertext environments to support explorative interaction limits. If we accept the need for browsing and navigating or chance serendipitist exploration, both hypertext exploration and information retrieval techniques together are necessary to fulfill the demand for finding information in the context of hypertext systems. Agosti [Agosti 88] introduces the combination as a new model for information retrieval. More clearly, one should talk about supplement or integration of information retrieval and hypertext, because tools for searching or navigating should not only be alternatives when entering a hypertext environment, but co-occur in and integrate the information gathering process [Frisse & Cousins 89, Fuhr 90, Croft & Turtle 93, Salton & Allan 93, Kuhlen 92, Dunlop & van Rijsbergen 93, Agosti 93, Agosti & Smeaton 96]. Large distributed data collections used in networked information spaces lead to new problems in retrieving data. These problems heavily depend on the distributed character of the data collections [Fox 93, Lynch 95, Janes & Rosenfeld 96] (c.f. Workshop NIR [Fuhr & Schweppe 96] at Schloss Dagstuhl). The most important subareas of networked information retrieval are resource discovery, searching and data fusion. ER