7. A computer-implemented method of displaying information about a document that includes a spatial identifier that identifies a corresponding location within a metric space and wherein that spatial identifier is characterized by a semantic type that is determined by the use of the spatial identifier within the document, said method comprising: displaying at least a portion of content from the document, wherein the at least one portion of content is a natural language; visually identifying the spatial identifier within a displayed visual representation of the content from the document; visually indicating the semantic type of the spatial identifier wherein the semantic type is determined by a path hierarchy for each location; and visually differentiating, by visually promoting and highlighting differently, two or more corresponding locations based on attributes that are defined with reference to the document, wherein the locations that are metonymic are given less prominent visual emphasis than other locations.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the semantic type is place-of-author.