Method and system to enable a user to view large collections of hierarchically
linked information on a computer based display. A tree structure visualization
is created which presents a representation of the complete collection of information
on the display. The visualization fits completely within a fixed area of the computer
based display, negating the need to scroll information into the display area. The
visualization is based on identified focus nodes and through calculation of a Degree
of Interest (DOI) for each of the nodes based in the structure. Layout and presentation
of the visualization structure is based on the DOI values in combination with considerations
of available display space. A user may dynamically manipulate views of the structure
by selecting one or more focus nodes, thus causing a recalculation of the degree
of interest.