Is there a way for me to remap one of my redundant keys (ie lower
backslash, right shift, F12, etc) so that it will print the british
pound symbol(£)? i am using the american standard qwerty layout, and
don't want to change that. Or, could I assign the £ symbol to a
combination, say alt+4 (so shift+4 would be $, alt+4 would be £)?

As you may know, the £ symbol can be produced by using Alt+156 and you
can certainly assign a shortcut key in Word:

Assign shortcut keys to a command or other item

You can assign a shortcut key to a command, macro, font, AutoText
entry, style, or a commonly used symbol.

On the Tools menu, click Customize.

Click Keyboard.

In the Save changes in box, click the current document name or
template in which you want to save the shortcut key changes.

In the Categories box, click the category that contains the command or other item.

In the box to the right, click the name of the command or other item. 
Any shortcut keys that are currently assigned appear in the Current keys box. 

In the Press new shortcut key box, type the shortcut key combination
you want to assign.

Click Assign. 

Note   The key combination CTRL+ALT+F8 is reserved for initiating
keyboard programming on programmable keyboards, so you cannot assign
this combination if you use a programmable keyboard.

Will this do?

That works great in Word, however I'm looking for something more
universal that will work no matter what program I'm using at the time.
I think the times when I most need this I'm working in Outlook, AIM,
or DreamWeaver, or all three at once, however I really would like to
be able to do a permanent mapping. I know there are ways to swap say
the shift and caps lock keys; but can you create a key function for a
symbol not normally included in the standard layout?

hmm actually i just found the answer to my own question... sigh. :)
there is a program called hotkeyz that will allow you to paste any
content you want and assign it to a key combo. you can have it start
when windows starts, and once you tell it to disable the tray icon
there is nothing but one additional process running. good enough for
me, i say. :)