October 1, 1979 INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
1 INTRODUCTION ______________
1.1 HISTORY ___________
FRESS is a research project in sophisticated tools for authors
and online readers which has developed over the course of more
than a decade under the direction of Computer Science Professor
Andries van Dam.
FRESS' predecessor, the Hypertext Editing System (HES), was
developed at Brown University from 1968 through the Spring of 1969
as a joint project with Theodor Nelson under an IBM research
contract. It was designed to run on the IBM 2250 display console.
In the Spring of 1969 the design of FRESS began, and during
January 1971, the basic FRESS system was installed on the Brown
and National CSS Service Bureau 360/67 based time-sharing systems
using typewriter terminals. In May of that year a version of the
system allowing simple alphanumeric display terminals to be used
was installed. By June of 1972, various versions of FRESS were
used as production text-editing systems at Brown¹ the Catholic
University of Nijmegen, Holland¹ and a government agency.
Under a $79,000 grant from the Exxon Education Foundation
(June, 1973 - June, 1974), previously designed, but undeveloped
Hypertext and graphics features were added to the basic
text-editing system. This grant underwrote Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI) at Brown University during the Spring semester
of the 1973-74 year. The interdisciplinary university-level
course, UC126, "Man, Energy, and the Environment" was taught by
Physics Professor George Seidel. Twelve students participated in
the experiment by doing all of their course reading using a
computer-linked display console, and a database specially prepared
with various forms of Hypertext.
The results of the experiment were inconclusive. It was
determined that the FRESS Hypertext system was feasible,
effective, and enjoyable in an educational environment
encompassing students with diverse backgrounds. However, the
evidence from this single experiment was not sufficient to prove
whether or not the Hypertext database helped the students to learn
more or better. Also, while the students explored most of the
instructor-created Hypertext, there was insufficient incentive for
them to enlarge it.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities³ funded
a second experiment using Hypertext in education. In that
project, FRESS was used to help teach poetry in the Brown
¹Initially under CP/CMS and now under VM/370.
¹Under OS/MVT
³NEH-22258-75-95
FRESS Resource Manualnual Release 9.1 Section 1.1 -- 1
HISTORY
1 INTRODUCTION ______________
1.1 HISTORY ___________
FRESS is a research project in sophisticated tools for authors
and online readers which has developed over the course of more
than a decade under the direction of Computer Science Professor
Andries van Dam.
FRESS' predecessor, the Hypertext Editing System (HES), was
developed at Brown University from 1968 through the Spring of 1969
as a joint project with Theodor Nelson under an IBM research
contract. It was designed to run on the IBM 2250 display console.
In the Spring of 1969 the design of FRESS began, and during
January 1971, the basic FRESS system was installed on the Brown
and National CSS Service Bureau 360/67 based time-sharing systems
using typewriter terminals. In May of that year a version of the
system allowing simple alphanumeric display terminals to be used
was installed. By June of 1972, various versions of FRESS were
used as production text-editing systems at Brown¹ the Catholic
University of Nijmegen, Holland¹ and a government agency.
Under a $79,000 grant from the Exxon Education Foundation
(June, 1973 - June, 1974), previously designed, but undeveloped
Hypertext and graphics features were added to the basic
text-editing system. This grant underwrote Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI) at Brown University during the Spring semester
of the 1973-74 year. The interdisciplinary university-level
course, UC126, "Man, Energy, and the Environment" was taught by
Physics Professor George Seidel. Twelve students participated in
the experiment by doing all of their course reading using a
computer-linked display console, and a database specially prepared
with various forms of Hypertext.
The results of the experiment were inconclusive. It was
determined that the FRESS Hypertext system was feasible,
effective, and enjoyable in an educational environment
encompassing students with diverse backgrounds. However, the
evidence from this single experiment was not sufficient to prove
whether or not the Hypertext database helped the students to learn
more or better. Also, while the students explored most of the
instructor-created Hypertext, there was insufficient incentive for
them to enlarge it.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities³ funded
a second experiment using Hypertext in education. In that
project, FRESS was used to help teach poetry in the Brown
¹Initially under CP/CMS and now under VM/370.
¹Under OS/MVT
³NEH-22258-75-95
FRESS Resource Manualnual Release 9.1 Section 1.1 -- 1
