The Influence of Secondary Starting Points
Secondary starting points take on an important role because of their potential influence on the reader. Because secondary starting points tend toward specific subject-matter, the links available make reader associations more apparent. For example, a reader may be interested in Greek mythology. Doing a Web search on the subject, the reader gets a list of Web pages where the subject is mentioned. As it happens, some of the mentions of Greek mythology occur in a page devoted primarily to Chinese mythology. Now the reader, who hadn't previously thought of Chinese mythology, has the ability to follow a link to that subject rather than the one she was originally interested in: her focus, though still within a general subject, has changed.Similarly, at a document specific starting point, the links displayed can trigger a reader to pursue something in the work she previously had not considered.
Starting Points
Starting vs. Beginning a Work
An Introduction?
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