Knowledge can be public,yet undiscovered,if independently created
fragments are logically related but never retrieved, brought together,
and interpreted. Information retrieval, although essential for
assembling such fragments, is always problematic.The search process,
like a scientific theory, can be criticized and improved, but can
never be verified as capable of retrieving all information relevant to
a problem or theory. This essential incompleteness of search and
retrieval therefore makes possible, and plausible, the existence of
undiscovered public knowledge.