This is the lecture slide deck for learning module five of OILS 513, Digital Information Management. The lecture topic is on the field of Knowledge Management

1. Knowledge Management
OI&LS 513, Fall 2014
Foundations of Digital Information Management
Kevin J. Comerford, MFA, MS
Assistant Professor / Digital Initiatives Librarian
University of New Mexico

2. 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

3. 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 Profiles
and 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

4. 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.

5. Knowledge Management
Tools and Methods

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Organizational Taxonomies

10. 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”

11. Organizational Taxonomies
County 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

12. Knowledgebases:
Knowledge/Insight Capture
Systems

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

17. This Week’s Assignments
1. Overview
2. Lecture
3. Readings
4. Discussion Assignment (due 10/6)
5. Postings (due 10/8)