An information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him not to have it.
Quoted from: Mooers, Calvin N. 1960. Moor's Law: or, why some retrieval systems are used and others are not (editorial). American Documentation, 11(3) (July 1960): ii (also p. 204).
I originally thought this law was a comment to the ease-of-use of the information system, but futher reading of Mooer's editorial reveals a larger issue:
In the building and planning of our informtation handling and retrievig systems, we have tended to believe implicitly, and to assume throughout our writings, that having information easily available was always a good thing, and that all people with access to an information system would want to use the system to get the information. It is now my suggestion that many people may not want information, and they will avoid using a system precisely because it gives them information.Having information is painful and troublesome. We all have experienced this. If you have information, you must first read it, which is not always easy. You must then try to understand it. To do this, you may have to think about it. The information may require that you make decisions about it or other informtation. The decisions require may require actions in the way of a troublesome program of work, or trips, or painful interviews. Understanding information may show that your work was wrong, or that your boss was wrong, or may show that your work was needless. Having informtation, you must be careful not to lose it. If nothing else, information piles up on your desk--unread. It is a nuisance to have it come to you. It is unformfortable to have to do anything about it. Finally, if you do try to use the information properly, you may be accused of puttering instead of working. Then in the end, the incorporation of the information into the work you do often may not be noticed or appreciated. Work saved is seldom recognized. Work done--even in duplicate--is well paid and rewarded.
Thus not having and not using information can often lead to less trouble and pain than having and using it.
He also reiterates his law in Mooers' Law or Why some retrieval systems are used and others are not. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, October/November 1996, v. 23, n. 1, pp. 22-23.
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