8. In a computer system including a processor and a display device coupled to the processor, a method of visually representing hypermedia data sets distributed on a computer network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving results of a first search, the results including a plurality of hypermedia data sets having a correspondence to user-specified criteria, wherein the plurality of hypermedia data sets are referenced by a plurality of hypermedia links; automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the sets of data to the user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including a content examination of said results; ranking the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on results of said refining; generating a map of the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on the results of said ranking, the map including a plurality of objects, each representing one of the plurality of hypermedia data sets; and causing the map to be displayed on the display device, the map including an arrangement of objects having a three-dimensional appearance, such that the ranking is indicated by the apparent relative positioning of the objects in three dimensions, said step of causing the map to be displayed including causing the hypermedia links to be displayed as connections between the objects, such that a visual attribute of each of the connections indicates a degree of relevance to the user-specified criteria of a corresponding one of the hypermedia data sets.
8. In a computer system including a processor and a display device coupled to the processor, a method of visually representing hypermedia data sets distributed on a computer network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving results of a first search, the results including a plurality of hypermedia data sets having a correspondence to user-specified criteria, wherein the plurality of hypermedia data sets are referenced by a plurality of hypermedia links; automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the sets of data to the user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including a content examination of said results; ranking the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on results of said refining; generating a map of the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on the results of said ranking, the map including a plurality of objects, each representing one of the plurality of hypermedia data sets; and causing the map to be displayed on the display device, the map including an arrangement of objects having a three-dimensional appearance, such that the ranking is indicated by the apparent relative positioning of the objects in three dimensions, said step of causing the map to be displayed including causing the hypermedia links to be displayed as connections between the objects, such that a visual attribute of each of the connections indicates a degree of relevance to the user-specified criteria of a corresponding one of the hypermedia data sets. 15. A method according to claim 8, wherein each of the connections includes a direction indicator indicating a logical direction of the corresponding hypermedia link.