A method for supplying hierarchical supplementary information related to
printed books in a portal can include several steps. The method can
include the steps of first establishing a portal of supplementary
information related to printed books. Second, a plurality of different
printed books can be distributed to a user base. Third, each different
printed book can be associated with a common uniform address. Fourth, a
kiosk can be provided for interacting with the portal. Fifth, a
user-specified common address can be received from a user in the user
base through the kiosk, the user-specified address corresponding to the
printed books. Sixth, upon receiving the user-specified common address, a
first hypermedia document corresponding to the user-specified common
address can be displayed through the kiosk in the portal. The seventh
step can include identifying in the first hypermedia document
corresponding to the user-specified common address a user class
associated with the user. Finally, in response to identifying the
associated user class, one of the secondary hypermedia documents can be
displayed through the kiosk, the secondary hypermedia documents having
supplementary information pertaining to the book associated with the
user-specified common address. Moreover, the supplementary information
can be consonant with the associated user class.