Argument or Database?
Myron Tuman argues that "the online text is nothing but a database" (Word Perfect 65). But Tuman's view fails to recognize the author's role in guiding the reader to the possibilities of an argument. Certainly, an author can simply dump data online and let readers, through various methods such as search engines, move through the information and pick up what the readers see as useful. Authors can still present an argument, a point of view (much as I have in this work), while allowing readers enough freedom to pursue their own intrests. The difference between a database and an argument is that the author does much more than simply establish the rules by which users retrieve information. The author presents a view in an open text that lets readers easily see other views.
Negotiating with the Reader
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