An aid to calculating search costs online

A simple model has been developed that enables the online searcher to calculate the total cost of a search at any point during the search. The parameters of the model are simply the online search time and the number of references that the searcher intends to print. The model can be represented graphically or in a discrete tabular form, as the searcher requires, and should be applicable to bibliographic databases on most retrieval systems. It should be particularly useful to searchers who have to work within financial constraints.