Searchability can help over come this discrepancy by allowing the reader to create their own set of logically similar items. Searchability readily lends itself to locating known items rather than making the reader browse down a number of menus to get what they want. Similarly, a reader may have used an item from you before and not put it into their hotlist. If you have searching mechanisms in place, then it may be easier for the reader to find the item again. Searchability works independently of your collection's size.
Browsable systems begin to break down after the collection becomes too large.
The effectiveness of searching an information system is not directly impeded by the size of the system. Yet, purely searchable systems are not perfect either. In order to effectively search an information system, the reader must know the query language of the search engine. This may include Boolean logic or Unix regular expressions. They may have to know the meaning of right-hand truncation and the symbol for its use.