Multitasking Made Easy: Supporting Academic Writing in Digital Libraries with an Ambient Search System

Abstract

When personal computers first arrived, many predicted that by the end of the century our desktops would become free from clutter as we moved to the paperless office. However, if we look at desktops of current researchers, we can see that this has definitely not happened (see Figure 1). But it is not only researchers’ physical desktops that are cluttered; their computer desktops (and file systems) are just as cluttered. This should not come as a surprise. Because the process of writing is such a complex process, people need this space to lay out their notes, readings, drafts, printouts, etc. As a result, the desktop is literally disappearing under piles of paper, just not in the way predicted.