Knowledge Management

OI&LS 513, Fall 2014Foundations of Digital Information Management

Kevin J. Comerford, MFA, MSAssistant Professor / Digital Initiatives LibrarianUniversity of New Mexico

History of KM Development• First Stage of KM: Information Technology

– KM as a field has developed as a result of the computer revolution and the internet

– Literally, KM tools and technology preceded theory

• Second Stage of KM: Corporate Culture– Management consultants fostered the spread of

KM tools and basic methods through the 1990s• Third Stage of KM: Taxonomy and Content

Management– KM researchers began adopting concepts of

search and retrieval and documentation from Information Science

Knowledge Management Matrix

DATA AND INFORMATION CONNECTING PEOPLE

DIRECTORY AND REFERENCE SERVICES

Information Services (Reference)

Lessons learned / After-Action Analysis Repositories

Content Architecture

Community & Learning Directories (expertise

locators) Groupware Task Forces and Committees

BROWSING & SEARCHING

Current Awareness Profilesand Databases

News Alerts / Push Content

Data Mining

Social Spaces: Libraries & lounges (literal & virtual)

Groupware Travel & Meeting Attendance

Adapted from Tom Short, Senior consultant, Knowledge Management, IBM Global Services

Explicit, Implicit and Tacit Knowledge• Explicit Knowledge: Information or knowledge that is set

out in tangible form, usually written. – Example: Everyone who works at the University of New Mexico can read

the employee vacation and sick leave policy on the UNM Human Resources website.

• Implicit Knowledge: Information or knowledge that is not set out in tangible form but could be made explicit.– Example: While there is no written policy or visible signage, everyone who

works in the accounting department knows not to bring deposits to the cashier’s window after 4:30pm, so the cashier can count out their cash drawer before 5pm.

• Tacit Knowledge: Information or knowledge that one would have extreme difficulty operationally setting out in tangible form.– Example: There are several types of “Tacit” business information, which

can range from interpersonal knowledge of an office environment (“if you want to finish the meeting on time, don’t invite Bill; he’ll take up the whole meeting with a monologue”), it can also be the highly intuitive, technical information one learns as one master’s a skill set. For example, a graphic designer learns through extensive trial and error the best way to export an InDesign layout to send to a local printer.

Knowledge Management Tools and Methods

KM Tools and Methods• Documentation Projects

– Identify and describe all routine business processes• Ontology/Taxonomy Projects

– Controlled vocabularies for describing all aspects of an organization

• Information Portals– Centralized websites where documentation and

policy are available to all employees• Knowledgebases

– Structured database of “implicit” knowledge and expertise contributed by employees

KM Tools and Methods• Expertise Locators (Experts Bureaus)

– Profile database of subject experts within an organization, users articulate a business need and are matched to an expert.

– See UNM OVPR Research Match website:– http://

caeld.unm.edu/research-opportunities/research-match.html

• Communities of Practice (CoPs)– Social organizations of experts or concerned

employees that meet to discuss organizational problems and brainstorm solutions

– See EthicShare: http://www.ethicshare.org/– In TQM, Quality Circles are a form of CoP

KM Tools and Methods• Data Warehousing/Data Mining Systems

– A Data Warehouse is a collection of databases that contain extensive historical information about an organization’s customers, products, finances and operations

– At UNM the Office of Institutional Analytics is building a Data Warehouse that will house historic data students, finances and research

– See: http://oia.unm.edu/data-warehouse/index.html– Data Warehouses offer the opportunity to evaluate

business trends over time, and pose research quesitons

Organizational Taxonomies

Organizational Taxonomies• Taxonomy: A body of hierarchically

related terms or keywords that describe some feature or phenomena in detail

• Taxonomies start with the broadest, most general concepts, and then narrow the concepts into highly specific terms

• Collections of related taxonomies are called “Ontologies”

Organizational TaxonomiesCounty Government Business Unit Taxonomy• Assessor• Commissioners• Coroner• District Attorney• Finance• Clerk and Recorder <------------ Department

– Elections <------------ Divisions– Motor Vehicle– Recording

• TD1000 <-------- Records• Warranty Deed• Quit Claim Deed• Subdivision Plat

• Sheriff• Treasury

Knowledgebases:Knowledge/Insight Capture Systems

Knowledgebases• Database of employee-contributed

insights into how specific business problems can be solved– Needs to be readily available to all employees;

software model is usually a web database or a client-server application

• Used to document and organize “Implicit” types of information– Frequently very useful for new or temporary

employees• Use to augment formal documentation

– Often, Knowledgebases and formal documentation can be cross-referenced to improve their usefulness

Knowledgebases• Very simple to implement

– A KB can be set up and distributed to employees in a day

– Complex data structures often work against the effectiveness of Knowledgebases

• Requires significant commitment to maintain– To be useful, everyone must both contribute to it

and make use of it• Usually takes time to gain acceptance

– Requires management and employee acceptance – often it will take time to see the value

Knowledgebases

• Frequently Used KB database fields– Problem Title– Problem Description– Problem Solution

• Organizational Taxonomy– Hierarchical keywords make KB records easy to

browse• Free Text Tags Field

– Like social media tags, KB tags make it easy to sort, group and search for solutions

This Week’s Assignments

1. Overview

2. Lecture

3. Readings

4. Discussion Assignment (due 10/6)

5. Postings (due 10/8)