We do have many documents which nobody ever reads. We produce documents which are read -imperfectly- only during reviews. Also, we often complain that we do not get comments on our documents.
Let's consider the case of a study. Someone is given the task of writing a study document. He reads himself a lot of other documents, including external sources such as standards, and then produces a document: the study. Whom is this study intended to? Will reading it save them time and energy?
It will at certain conditions:
What if the study doesn't supersede (subsume) the voluminous documentation it refers to? It is then redundant, and thus useless (to others but the author, as personal notes), apart for one purpose: checking that the author had indeed understood the issue of the study. This case is indeed this of diploma works, intended for the teacher!
Recognizing such a situation should lead us to use these documents as intermediate steps to produce documentation for others.