The invention consists of three parts. The first is a method for generating graphical representations of the contents of large internet directory structures. The visual metaphor employed for this purpose is that of a shaded-relief terrain image. The second component is a design for a human-computer interface capable of supporting a variety of graphical interactions with such representations. Including graphical browsing, querying, and "bookmarking" of sites or features of interest. The third is an information delivery architecture that enables internet a browser users to use such maps to browse, query, bookmark, and otherwise navigate the display to locate web sites of interest. Key innovations described here include. A method for generating spatial representations of large quantities (10,000,000+) of web sites that organizes, depicts, and enables graphical navigation of the sites. A method for generating a graphical underlayment for such spatial representations, in the form of a shaded-relief terrain image, that conveys to the viewer information about the topical variability of the site distribution in an intuitive and visually compelling way. A user interface that seamlessly integrates directory, query results, and "bookmark" browsing and that enable their visual cross-referencing. A general architecture for delivering the previously described visualization components to internet browser users that has extremely low bandwidth requirements. This invention could serve as the basis for an internet portal, providing users with an exciting and effective new means for accessing and interacting with information on the World Wide Web.