To generate more-relevant answers, organizations including the federal government are using topic maps to index their data. : http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65840,00.html Organizing content with Topic maps provides context for words that can have multiple meanings. Understanding Topic Maps : http://www.infoloom.com/whitepaper.htm
The Problem; The amount of information available on line has been doubling in size every 6 months for the last 3 years, with equally rapid growth predicted for years to come. Today there are 42 million active Internet users, and the potential is an estimated 270 million. In addition to a skyrocketing number of users, the number of pages is rapidly increasing as well. A study conducted at the NEC Research Institute estimates that the Web has over 800 million searchable pages. Search engines do not keep up with the rapid explosion of Web pages. NECRI tells us that it takes more than six months for a new page to show up on a search engine. Even one of the best engines, Northern Light, only searches one-sixth of the Web's pages.
Topic Maps Sites of interest http://www.infoloom.com/tmsites.htm

Welcome. HistoryShots are data graphics that explain historical events or stories. : http://www.historyshots.com/

Faces are handled differently in the brain from other objects : http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3445743 (Researchers are exploring how and where in the brain people recognise faces.) Implications for using portrait imagery as map point icons (?)

Odd, curious, and fanciful maps from the holdings of the Map Collection, Yale University Library:
http://www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/curious.html including http://www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/lifepath.gif

Scalable Inline Image Replacement code : http://axisfive.net/aboutsiir/

"Not all those who wander are lost." - JRR Tolkien