As information delivery systems on the Internet increasingly evolve into World Wide Web browsers, understanding key graphical elements of the browser interface is critical to the design of effective information display and access tools. Image maps are one such element, and this document describes a pilot study that collected, reviewed, and evaluated image maps from homepages of educational institutions. World Wide Web browsers offer a high level of interaction through hyperlinks, most of which involve text or a simple image. Image maps, on the other hand, are complex visuals that contain multiple hyperlinks to a number of information resources. Effective image maps offer clearly defined multiple links or "hot spots," present visual content that supports the theme or purpose of the site, permit backtracking and bookmarking, help the user build mental models of the interrelationships of information resources, do not take too long to load, and do not clutter the display. Researchers developed a survey form, for use by nine independent viewers, that sought to evaluate sites by those visual, navigational, and practical criteria. Fifty-five surveys on institutional homepages were collected from the nine viewers, and they revealed primarily that viewers placed a higher premium on simplicity than on pure visual appeal. Artistically captivating image maps often violated rules of simplicity; individual hot spots were hard to distinguish, choices were too multilayered to allow for a quick return to the starting point, and loading was slow. Reproductions of 11 institutional homepages accompany the text. Two other figures include a bar graph comparing average viewer ratings by site and a list of tips for image map design. (Contains 16 references.) (BEW)