Visualize Discussions

An entry at blog.org points to an interesting paper (PDF) on visualizing the state of a discussion online. I think it is helpful to see folks pushing past text as a way to represent the vigor and other attributes of online interaction. I wonder how we can use visualization techniques to reintroduce serendipitous browsing through library collections in an age when our libraries are often decentralized (no “main library”) and full of electronic resources (nothing “on the shelf”)?