Supporting Cross-Session Cross-Device Search in an Academic Digital Library

Academic search tasks that are complex may require that a searcher undertake the task over the course of multiple search sessions, and possibly using multiple devices. One of the key challenges in cross-session search is resuming the previously started search task. If task resumption can be supported well in a mobile environment, we may be able to encourage academic searchers to make use of the small down-times they encounter while away from their computers (e.g., while in line at the market). If it is supported well in a desktop/laptop environment, the work that was done on a mobile device can easily be accessed and used. In this paper, we demonstrate an academic digital library search interface that supports cross-session cross-device search, using visualization approaches to support browsing and selection of past search topics, and faceted navigation features to support investigation and examination of previously saved documents.