CONFER is used by a variety of organizations which have no direct contact with any MTS site (the CONFER host computer system). In many cases, the main contact of the CONFER user is with the third party vendor or consultant who is supporting the networking effort. Several problems arise when the third party relationship is not broadened to include the institutional consulting and documentation efforts. Such problems include:1. Overload on the time of the third-party consultant.2. Production of custom documentation which parallels the institutional documentation.3. User perceptions that they are not "ready" for institutional documentation.4. Development of abbreviated cognitive maps of the system and its user network.5. Users exchange superstitious views of how the system works.While it is not yet clear that the absorption of third-party, mediated networks will solve such problems, it is an obvious first step to a solution.