WebStar: a visualization model for hyperlink structures

The authors introduce an information visualization model, WebStar, for hyperlink-based information systems. Hyperlinks within a hyperlink-based document can be visualized in a two-dimensional visual space. All links are projected within a display sphere in the visual space. The relationship between a specified central document and its hyperlinked documents is visually presented in the visual space. In addition, users are able to define a group of subjects and to observe relevance between each subject and all hyperlinked documents via movement of that subject around the display sphere center. WebStar allows users to dynamically change an interest center during navigation. A retrieval mechanism is developed to control retrieved results in the visual space. Impact of movement of a subject on the visual document distribution is analyzed. An ambiguity problem caused by projection is discussed. Potential applications of this visualization model in information retrieval are included. Future research directions on the topic are addressed. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.