The Fallacy of the Perfect Thirty-Item Online Search
Marcia J. Bates · 2016
Problems in determining output size are sometimes associ ated with the performance of online bibliographic searches for clients in academic and other libraries. These problems are examined through discussion of a fallacy in thinking that arises when searchers try to produce the 4'perfect thirty-item online search. Origins of the fallacy are ex plored by considering sources of misunderstandings be tween client and searcher and by identifying differences between manual and online searching. Several types of on line searches are distinguished, and search techniques that avoid the fallacy are recommended for each search type.