Real World CouchDB by John Wood.
Very good overview of CouchDB, including its limitations.
Two parts really caught my attention:
First, the “crash only” design. CouchDB doesn’t shut down, its process is killed. There’s a data integrity test!
Second, the “scale down architecture.” Can run CouchDB plus data on a mobile device. Synches up when connectivity is restored but otherwise, application based on CouchDB can continue working. CouchDB supports delivery of HTML and Javascript so supports basic web apps.
CouchDB looks like a good candidate for delivery of topic map content.
I wanted to include a link to a CouchDB app for the Afghan War Diaries but the site isn’t responding. You can see the source code for the app at: https://github.com/benoitc/afgwardiary.