Cerchiamo: a collaborative exploratory search tool

We describe Cerchiamo, a collaborative exploratory search system that allows teams of searchers to explore document collections synchronously. Working with Cerchiamo, team members use independent interfaces to run queries, browse results, and make relevance judgments. The system mediates the team members’ search activity by passing and reordering search results and suggested query terms based on the teams’ actions. The combination of synchronous influence with independent interaction allows team members to be more effective and efficient in performing search tasks. Author