This study reconceptualises scholarly information seeking in multi-session contexts as a temporally distributed process and examines how decision-making unfolds across time.
A qualitative research design was adopted, combining a two-week diary study with semi-structured interviews involving 15 participants. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and process modelling to capture behavioural patterns and decision processes across search sessions.
The findings show that interruption is a normal condition that segments search into multiple sessions. Deferral enables users to postpone evaluation and distribute decision-making across time, while re-entry requires reconstruction of the search context. Through the interaction of these mechanisms, decision formation emerges as a gradual and evolving process rather than a single-point judgement.
The qualitative sample limits generalisability. Future research could incorporate quantitative methods to examine the proposed model across broader contexts.
The findings suggest that information systems should support re-entry, ongoing information management and context reconstruction to better accommodate long-term search processes.
This study proposes a process model that shifts the analytical focus from session-based behaviour to cross-temporal dynamics. It advances information behaviour research by reframing decision-making as an ongoing process, highlighting discontinuity as a defining feature of search and identifying deferral as a key mechanism linking search episodes.
