Three public libraries adopted the same online reservation system. Sharing one system reduced maintenance costs and allowed readers to use a single account. However, a software error later prevented all three libraries from viewing reservations for several hours. The disruption spread because the libraries depended on the same service, not because digital information had become more expensive. The libraries kept the shared system but added an offline list for essential reservations and tested a separate recovery process. Their response recognized both the benefit of coordination and the risk of a common failure point. A report that mentioned only the simultaneous disruption would describe the result but not its cause. A report that blamed rising information prices would attach a false explanation to a true-looking outcome. Accurate analysis required the result and the causal mechanism to agree with the evidence.