"The Language of New Media Design," a book written by Radan Martinec and Theo van Leeuwen describes the different types of simple non-linear models in terms of website layouts. The types consist of given and new, ideal and real, the star model, the tree model, the table, and the network. These models structuralize the website layout and impact how the reader will take in the information presented there.
The most complicated web layout, when speaking of simple non-linear models, is the network. Networks strive to present as much information as possible. Unlike the star and tree models, the network is not centralized or set up by hierarchies, but rather it resembles a web - with related pieces of information being accessed by links. However, models of star, tree, table, etc. can be included in a network, but they do not dominate.
An good example of the network layout is the website http://wikipedia.com. Wikipedia also features non-linear models, for example the first page displays different language options situated around the Wikipedia logo. This arrangement of a center element (Wikipedia logo) surrounded by other elements (the different language options) demonstrates the star model.
Once a search item is typed in, the next page features a given and new layout. On the left side of this page, there are links that navigate back to the main page, to the contents, etc., and it also features the box to type in a new search item. All of the search results appear on the right side. This vertical splitting of material where the info that the audience expects, or the given info, is on the left and the info that is unknown to the audience, or the new info, is on the right signifies the given and new model.
When one of the search results is chosen a new page comes up that could be described as partly following the tree model, which puts different pieces of information into a hierarchy of sorts, because of the table of contents near the top of the page. This page is also where we see the network layout. Interspersed in the information on this page are links that are relatable to the topic. Each link will bring up its own page of information, which will have its own links that will lead to other pages. This design is like a web because there is no linear direction that the links take, and certain links can bring you back to previous pages.
This network model is very useful when looking for a wide variety of information because the links can any kind of relation to each other. For example, if the search topic is the actor Haley Joel Osment, the page of information that would come up would include links to movies he has appeared in, links pertaining to personal characteristics (such as featuring a link to information on a vegetarian diet in describing Haley's eating habits), and links to different geographic locations found in describing Haley's place of birth, etc. The network model allows you to move very quickly through a lot of different information. If you start out with the search topic Haley Joel Osment you might end up on a page with information on an evergreen after a mere five links.
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