What is Knowledge Management?

What is Knowledge Management?

Definitions change everyday. Some definitions fall out of fashion, other stick in popular language an eternity. Yet with Knowledge Management, no one seems to agree on a standard definition. It’s as if the phrase itself is morphing to conform to the global landscape and technological shifts taking place before our very eyes…

And how would explain KM to someone, if they should ask me? I’m not really sure. Perhaps the easiest way would be to provide an explicit example that everyone can understand. I would chose Google because everyone under 40 (assuming of course) is probably aware of the mavericks of the search industry! And then I would proceed to ask the questioner a question. Why do you think Google works so well?? Voila…KM defined under 10 minutes.

Café des connaissances de Montréal

Last March, I stumbled upon Café des connaissances in the internet and decided to give it a try. I immediately registered through this website and within 24 hours received a personalized invitation to partake in their monthly meeting held at CRIQ (Le Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec).

For an MLIS student who has never been in inside a scientific research facility, this step was a bit intimidating. The security guard asked to see my ID so I showed it to them. Then the security guard phoned the organizer of the event and within minutes I was inside a state of the art conference room equipped with a Cisco Video Conferencing technology for simultaneous cross-region video conferencing. Apparently, we were going to have a discussion with practioners in Quebec City.

I noticed that everyone in the room had a laptop in front of them, so I quickly set up my own, and was asked to come up with 3 key words related to wikies which would be inputed into a internet-based mapping application. The discussion for the evening was on “wikies and how to use them within in an organization”. The discussion in Montreal was simultaenously streamed to Quebec City KM practicioners.

This monthly meeting is spearheaded by Dr. Joel Muzzard, who also runs a consulting practice called Applied Intelligence (http://www.a-i-a.com/). The community of practice is comprised of business practitioners from all industries who are particularly interested in Knowledge Management and the application of KM in their business context. Anyone is invited to participate but registration for security reasons. The discussion is conducted in French, but you can add your comments in English.

For more information you can visit: http://www.a-i-a.com/KM-GC-MONTREAL/index.html

For a recap of August visit : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6l0mp_le-cafe-des-connaissances-de-montre_tech

Wikinomics: A Review

Coming soon!

A review of the international bestseller book authored by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.

http://www.wikinomics.com/book/

Learning in context in World of Warcraft….

The video proposes that learning in context is far more beneficial to the learner because it allows students to learn within context and it adds an element of FUN and fantasy in education.

While I agree with the idea that contextual learning is far more applicable than theoretical learning, I am not thoroughly convinced that learning through the World of War Craft merits any more points than say Second Life or an asynchronous/synchronous e-learning technology.

Why?

Learning in context can be accomplished in more than one way. The video suggests that learning through games is better. Well, maybe…but it does not entirely take into account that in order for this to become a reality in classroom learning the issues of accessibility needs to be addressed.Middle-class America might be able to afford computers at their homes, but that does not mean that everyone will have equal access to internet or to a computer capable of running high-end video or graphic cards. This also means that public libraries and schools must allocate extra funds to purchase designer-end computers.

I don’t mean to slam the the idea of learning through games. In fact, I love the idea…but realistically it is still a vision of the future. Instead, I would consider using a different tactic: social learning in context in the flesh. What i mean is through people to people interaction in school or universities with an added element of internet based applications like wikies or blogs.

KM @ Develompent and Alumni Relations (McGill)

I currently work with DAR at McGill University in the research department unit. Basically, we try to develop the funds for the University Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to pool in $100 Million dollars by year 2010.

One of the biggest challenges at DAR Research group is that researchers rarely last more than an year in their positions. The demands of the job are not out-of-the ordinary, and the pay is “okay”. However, the working conditions are less than desirable (and by that i mean it gets BORING after the first 2 months).Part of the problem is that while the learning curve is steep, researchers reach a plateau after 3-4 months and it becomes routine, leading to apathy. After six moths to a year, most researchers leave the job to find more stimulating experiences that offer continuous development and learning opportunities.

The rate of turn-over is alarming and the costs needed to re-train new hires are significant. It takes a researcher a full 2 months to learn how to work effectively and another 2 months to be fully competent; meaning that DAR is losing significant productivity each time someone quits and each time a new employee is hired.

I’ve often pondered what management is doing to resolve this issue. Perhaps management is not keen on how deep of an issue it is? Or maybe I’m blowing this over proportion? I suppose management could leave the issue as is (a viable option); re-structure that position so that researchers are constantly stimulated with plenty of learning experiences; start envisioning new knowledge retention strategies; or a combination of both.

I’ve been thinking of proposing a common “wiki” that focuses on key sources for each region we deal with. Currently, I am working with Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and Australia. I know I am not the first one to deal with this region..yet I had to develop sources of my own. Wouldn’t it have been easier if someone had collected the resources they had used in the past and posted these sources for all to access? It would have saved time at least…

As a student researcher, I’m often in an ambivalent position. I’m part of the team, yet I am not a full employee..so how would I go about recommending a possible solution?

Ideas are welcome!

How to best evaluate the Success of a Taxonomy?

Consider the following conversation with A and B.

A: This taxonomy belongs in the memory dump…

B: I know….what a corporate waste. Better to “Google” instead. Who uses these terms anyway?

A: What should we do with it?

B: Tag it as <<useless>> and <<Chindogu>>

Kenji Kawakami is a well-known Chindogu activist, author, anarchists, humorist, and inventor of hilarious household gadgets that in theory alleviate humdrum banalities of domestic life. His sort-of-maybe useful (but not really) inventions such as the dust mop booties for your cat to wibe down the parquet, solar-powered lighters (a magnifying glass attached to a cigarette holder), and the hydrophobe bath-body suit are examples of Chindogu–or weird tools in Englis–gizmos so impractical and ludicrous you would only find them in use in gloss catalogues titled 101 Useless Japanese Inventions. One could never truly imagine someone carrying around, much less using the so-called solar-powered lighter, except of course, the inventor himself. Although the inventions do work, they are often bulky, redundant and above all awkward!! Like Chindogu, some taxonomies maybe first-class models of classifications, but they often fail to deliver to the users at a functional, practical, and to some extent at an aesthetic level.

So..to revisit the question: How to best evaluate the success of a taxonomy?

One simple way to determine the succes of any product or in this case a taxonomy, is to begin by asking these simple questions:

• Is the taxonomy useful?
• Do you anticipate using it for your work?
• Do you think others in your position will use it?
• Does it comply with your needs?

Often organizations (let’s face it consumers too) buy into technologies or software products that may be in mode, but without first assessing the needs and skills of their employees.

Let’s say Organization A decides to to go for Documentum (which is by far the most expensive CMS available in the MARKET!!!) Buyign it alone will not guarantee a solid ROI.

Hey guess what?? Most employees haven’t a clue where to locate the shared drive!! Will Documentum solve your hmmmm larger issues?? Probably not. Word to the wise..Do an assessment first.

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