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Maps
of Web Sites
Web site maps are created by webmasters and content
providers to help users navigate and search complex web sites. A variety
of styles of map are used, many based on organizational charts. Presented
here are some of the best examples from around the Web.
An interactive Web site map called
SiteBrain.
This is a development of
TheBrain
information modeling technology to the Web. The example SiteBrain
screenshot above is mapping the Web site for the
graduate
school of architecture and planning at Columbia University.
Organizational chart type site maps. For example,
Apple
or Hilton Hotels
Hilton.com web site
from 1998 (Apple have since adopted a much more conventional site map and
Hilton do not currently provide a site map.)
Dynamic
Diagrams Inc. are a leading company in designing web site maps and
navigation tools. One of the graphic styles they use is to maps sites in a
perspective view, with individual web pages sticking up, a bit like a card
index. A good example of these is shown below, a map of
Britannica
Online.
Dynamic Diagrams have a Java product called
MAPA, which
produces interactive web site maps. Two example MAPA web site maps are
shown below, one for
IBM Corporation's
web site and the other for part of Dynamic Diagram's own web site.
For more information see the Map of the Month article
"Web
Site Maps from Dynamic Diagrams" in Mappa. Mundi Magazine.
Site
Lens developed by Inxight provide a neat fisheye style interactive
website map. It is a spin-off from
information
visualization research at Xerox PARC. The example below is a Site Lens
map of Monterey Bay Aquarium website.
Another product called MerzScope, from MerzCom Inc.
produced dynamic views of web site as a topology maps. An interesting
aspect of MerzScope maps were their ability to interactively change the
map "scale" by zooming in and out, revealing different levels of
detail on the site. The example shown left is MerzScope topology map of
Teleglobe's web site.
(Unfortunately, MerzScope is no longer available.)
Mapuccino
is a neat Java application for dynamically constructing interactive visual
maps of Web sites developed by the IBM's Haifa Research Lab in Israel.
Several different graphic styles of maps are available, including the
horizontal tree and fish-eye views shown in the screen-shots below.
Web site maps can also be created by site management
tools. These software tools are designed to aid webmasters to visualize
and manage large, complex web sites. We present screen-shots of from four
of the best site management tools to give you an idea of the type of maps
they produce.
See papers for further information on this
innovative research,
"Visualizing
the Evolution of Web Ecologies".
Ptolomaeus
- the Web cartographer, a nice tool for graphing the hierarchical
structure of Web sites being developed by Fabio Vernacotola and colleagues
in the Department of Informatica ed Automazione at the University of Roma
Tre, Italy.
Other Related Links:
-
Cyber-Geography
Research
-
Current
world map of the Internet - Showing hosts on the Internet. This
map uses data from July 1999...
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