Deciding how to evaluate a project done in hypertext is probably the most difficult aspect of the peer tutorial involving this type of writing. Since hypertext is so new to the academic world, few students know what makes a good or bad web page. Obviously, students should not clutter their web site with so many graphics that they overshadow the true content, but what are the other standards? Today many sites are emerging on the Internet that may be able to help tutors with this problem. One site that I found while working on this project was the Yale Center for Advanced Instructional Media Web Style guide. This site provided tips on selecting designs for a variety of project types. Two fundamental variables that were suggested in creating a web site were how linear the hypertext will be and the typical user contact time. Contact time tends to vary with the amount of interaction available and the number of links within a web page.

It is important for the tutor to make sure the writer has defined who he or she will address in the hypertext project. As mentioned in the Yale Style Guide, academic sites usually have more defined purposes than other sites. The tutor should check to make sure that the writer's hypertextual work agrees with the assigned purpose given by the professor. It is extremely easy to become swayed in a different direction when setting up a web site because there is so much information readily available. Writers may need to narrow their topics down several times before they reach a level of information which is manageable. Tutors must be aware of those students who provide tons of links to outside resources, but lack in their own conclusions. If the writer's work spreads out in too many directions it is unlikely that it will cover anything in great depth.

Links are the culprits of many of the problems related to the scope of a student's project. The Yale C/AIM Web Style Guide noted that although links are powerful tools on the Web, they could also become a distraction. If readers decide to click on all of the links in the hypertext, they may lose the flow of what the author is trying to say. In our English 376 class, we compared links to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that we would often read in grade school. It is possible to follow several different paths, but a complete story should be told. A good academic web site should also provide this sense of a central theme holding many parts of a story together. Links provide many options and extensive pools of information for the reader to indulge in, but the writer's message could become lost if the hypertext is not designed carefully. One option that tutors can suggest to writers who are losing their message is to place most of the links on a separate page under appropriate subheadings. The Yale C/AIM Web Style Guide also mentioned that a table of contents or index of links many help readers to navigate through a writer's hypertext. However a writer decides to set-up his or her page, it is important that the links work well and are easy to find.

Since hypertext can take so many forms, it is helpful for tutors to recognize a few of the styles that can be used. Some web sites may be extremely linear and straightforward in their presentation. Links can actually limit the directions that a reader can take. The reader may only have the option of going forward to a specifically designated page or back to the one previously visited. This type of web site ensures that the browser will not wander off in the presentation. A second type of hypertext has a very strong body, but the readers then have the ability to diverge in a number of directions depending on what interests them. A third type has a definite non-linear design and is highly interactive. This style usually covers a much broader range of topics than a linear structure would. There are any number of additional examples that could be added to this list, but this gives a basic idea of possible web site structures.

Although it was mentioned earlier that web sites should not be cluttered with graphics, most likely a hypertext project will contain at least a few of them. In fact, this is the very nature of hypertext. Hart-Davidson mentions in his article, What Dis'course About? Arguing CMC into the Curriculum, that writing on the Internet can be done, "not just by linking items in a database or conversing online, but by integrating words with pictures, moving as well as still, and sounds" (1). If tastefully chosen graphics can enhance a student's writing in more ways than merely the appearance. They may even help to explain the site's topic. It is challenging for tutors to evaluate graphics because there are no rules for applying them, as there are grammar and structural rules in the linear essay. Having a few dispersed graphics to brighten a site's content seems the best bet in academic hypertext.

Another aspect of hypertext that tutors should be aware of is the response that a project may generate. With this form of writing, the intended audience takes central importance. The tutor may find it helpful to ask the writer a few questions. Does the site attract those readers who would be most interested in the material? Is there an e-mail address for browsers to contact the writer? Hypertext is meant to be an interactive form of communication, and readers should be encouraged to respond to the writer's message. Students who only consider one side of an issue are actually defeating the purpose of hypertext. Another question to consider is whether accurate citations are made. Avoiding copyright and plagiarism become extremely important when setting up a site that millions of Internet browsers may see. Crump and Carbone, authors of English Online, talk of a student who is using a published poem in his or her essay. They say, "if the student puts the essay on the Internet, perhaps as part of a collection of class essays, the poem will in effect be published" (146).

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