Q. loss of folders in academic search complete

It's difficult to determine the problem without talking with you.  

In Academic Search Complete, the folder is only temporary unless you've created an account and are signed in.

My questions to you would be:

1. Were you signed in to your personal account within Academic Search Complete?
2. If not, did you exit the database?
3. Did you leave the database unattended for 30 minutes? If the database senses that the current user hasn't done anything over the course of 30 minutes then the session automatically ends.
4. Did you email articles from the folder?  When emailing articles from the folder a check box appears asking if you want to delete the items after sending them.  Sometimes it gets checked by accident.

Those are the questions I would ask.  If it wasn't any of those, I don't have an answer for you.  I apologize for any inconvenience.  If you need help locating those articles, contact one of the librarians, and we'll help you out.