Forthcoming Demonstrations

July 2002: the JCDL - Portland Digital Libraries Conference:
Thursday, July 18, 2002
Details at vw.indiana.edu/visual02/jcdl.html.

Ted Nelson's ZigZag and How It Can Serve as a Data Structure or Map for Multi-Dimensional Constructs

Synopsis
ZigZag is a unique method of storing, indexing, and linking to data of all kinds. The central distinction between ZigZag and conventional means of data storage (arrays, database tables, spreadsheets) is that the data stored in ZigZag structures does not need to be put through programming gymnastics to be represented in multiple dimensions -- because ZigZag is a multi-dimensional storage structure.

Using ZigZag, the challenge of representing multiple dimensions on a 2D monitor remains -- but the data is actually being called from an addressable multi-dimensional structure. When multiple dimensions can freely cross in the same code space, the need for separate tables disappears, as well as the need for workarounds such as star schemas. "Joins" loses its meaning, because ZigZag users can design the dimensions to intersect wherever they choose.

Features
• Cells can either contain data, or simply act as pointers. I.e., ZigZag can be either a data repository or a navigational tool.
• Language-agnostic. Applications and interfaces can and have been written in C, C++, and Java.
• Built-in default interface, in rows and columns. One can start by entering data, then figure out how to arrange it, like a spreadsheet -- and unlike a database program.
• Interchangeable views, since all data is the same.
• Cloned (duplicate) cells. The capacity to cross all dimensions over the same data cell does not actually mean one wants to do so. Sometimes one wants to create different "galaxies" of information.
• Automatic updating of cloned data. (There is no need to be astonished. A spreadsheet can do the same in two dimensions -- an RDBMS across multiple tables. ZigZag simply updates across multiple dimensions.)

ZigZag is, in one sense, a conservative way of dealing with information. To make a sandwich, we go to the refrigerator, the breadbox, the toaster, and the cutlery drawer. Four dimensions -- just to make a sandwich.

Why then, would we want computers to reduce the dimensions? It is our task to make computers emulate life, so that we can unleash the full capacity of our minds.

Demonstration
The demo will show how data can be added, how new dimensions (or facets) can be created, the permanence of the two-way links, and ZigZag's ability to freely rotate views through different dimensions.

Speakers
Nicholas Carroll is chief information architect with Hastings Research. Some of his papers can be found at http://www.hastingsresearch.com/net/. Forthcoming articles include "The Future of User Intervention In Information Structure and Retrieval" in the November 2002 Searcher magazine.

Marlene Mallicoat is a former IBM systems engineer and long-time collaborator with Ted Nelson. She participated in the development of ZigZag, and uses it for data storage and retrieval in her daily work.

ZigZag Background
Ted Nelson is the originator of the word "hypertext", in 1965. His Xanadu prototypes achieved levels of document control in the 1980s that have still not been equalled – ZigZag is the final version of the data storage system that evolved from the Xanadu project. It is the culmination of 40 years of experience in data handling.
    Nelson is B.A Swarthmore, M.A. Harvard, and Ph.D Keio University, Japan, as well as a Senior Fellow of the McLuhan Institute and Visiting Professor at University of Southampton, England.