Searching for information in a hypertext medical handbook

Effective information retrieval from large medical hypertext systems will require a combination of browsing and full-text document retrieval techniques. Using a prototype hypertext medical therapeutics handbook, I discuss one approach to information retrieval problems in hypertext. This approach responds to a query by initially treating each hypertext card as a full-text document. It then utilizes information about document structure to propagate weights to neighboring cards and produces a ranked list of potential starting points for graphical browsing.