I came across a good article for guidance regarding turning on SharePoint's publishing infrastructure, here is the link http://mindsharpblogs.com/penny/archive/2007/09/28/2973.aspx.

Notes for turning on the Publishing feature

• If you want to turn on the publishing feature you must do so at the Site Collection level first. Follow these steps...
  • Navigate to the Site Collection's top level Site then go to Site Settings.
  • Choose ‘Site Collection Features’ link.
  • Activate the ‘Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure’ feature.
• To turn on the publishing feature at the Site level. Follow these steps…
• Go the Site Settings page of the particular site.
• Choose to the ‘Site Features’ link
• Activate the ‘Office SharePoint Server Publishing’ feature
• You will notice you will now have access to Site Setting links such as ‘Navigation’  (under Look and Feel) that give you greater control over fine tuning your Site navigation.

This article may answer questions like….

•  How to start using web content management features of MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
•  I cannot see the ‘Navigation’ link under Look and Feel for my Site.
• Where is my Navigation link under Look and Feel