Mooers's law

proper noun

The observation that an information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than not to have it.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. The observation that an information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than not to have it.

Origin

Introduced by American computer scientist Calvin Mooers in 1959.

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Cite this entry
APA

Mooers's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mooers's%20law

MLA

“Mooers's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mooers's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mooers's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mooers's%20law.

Source: Mooers's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.