T 3.37 Unproductive searches

Millions of pages of information, documents, and files are available on the internet. Link technology operated simply by clicking with the mouse is used to navigate through the enormous amount of information offered. Links allow quick switching to further pages of information, which in turn contain new links to additional pages. Jumping from one page of information to another using links is also referred to as "surfing" and may result in extremely time-consuming searches.

In many organisations, internet services have been introduced without thoroughly examining the goals and expected effects of the services in advance. The training and support provided for the users are often inadequate, leading to unproductive searches in the wide range of information available on the internet. The users and the persons responsible for the systems often do not know how much these searches actually cost. According to the estimate of a consulting firm, several million dollars of avoidable personnel and communication costs are incurred annually by surfing and conducting unnecessary and time-consuming research on the internet.