Soft-link hypertext for information retrieval

This paper provides a formal speci®cation in Z of a new intelligent hypertext model called the soft-link hypertext model (SLHM). This model has been implemented and extensively tested, and provides a new methodology for constructing the future generation of information retrieval systems. SLHM has the following three major advantages. First, it is automatically formulated. Second, powerful neural learning mechanisms are applied, thereby improving its ef®ciency and applicability. Third, machine intelligence installed can be utilised for on-line assistance during navigating and information browsing. This speci®cation has been developed by application of an existing formal framework for specifying hypertext systems.