Collaborative query previews in digital libraries

Abstract

A novel method named collaborative query previews (CQPs) to augment information seeking

in digital libraries is proposed. CQPs aim to help users make better sense of the collection of a

digital library from two perspectives: query previews and recommendations of past queries.

Query previews generate overviews about a collection of documents through a set of aggregate

information on selected attributes. As a user issues queries, related queries submitted previously

by other users are recommended. By obtaining overview information and utilizing other user’s

experiences in retrieving information, a user is expected to formulate queries that better meet

information needs. A prototype work environment incorporating CQPs has been developed and

described in this paper.