People listening to a business expert didn't want to know about how companies might report financial data differently, they just wanted Web sites. This seems a throwback to the times when a library collection was more important than access. I am still awed by reference librarians, particularly those working in public libraries where questions can be about almost anything, who can immediately point to the book, index, or database that contains the correct answer. These people have source knowledge that is incomparable. I question, however, whether this knowledge, absorbed over years of answering tough questions, is the equivalent of a bookmark list.
Research is active.
Online searching is active. There is no dispute that skiing off cliffs is active. I maintain that querying databases, whether through a commercial host, the Internet, a CD-ROM, or your intranet, is an active endeavor. I do not find following links to be active. It is a passive endeavor.