There are those who assert that KM is “the new librarianship.” Might it be? When we transition KM from a stand-alone management function to knowledge services, certainly there are attributes that support that assertion. When we think, for example, about the convergence that takes place with knowledge services, the coming together of information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning to reach a common knowledge development/knowledge sharing goal, the link between librarianship and knowledge services becomes very clear. Here’s a valuable case study: In the latest SMR e-Profile, Marcie Stone writes about Betty Mayfield. Stone’s description of Mayfield’s career - Evolving Connections:…
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The Information Africa Organization (IAO) is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) registered in Kenya by the NGO council. The main objective of the organization is to build capacity among the youth in Information Communication (ICT) to enhance use of information available in the cyberspace for development. The full description of IAO’s objective is found here. At the site, the current question under discussion has to do with information overload, a subject often given attention in the KM/knowledge services discipline. The IAO discussion forum raises the issue by noting that information overload and professional/scientific language are barriers to information flow, and…
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In a previous post discussing the value of testing organizational strategy and the implementation and maintenance of corporate knowledge strategy, I invited readers to look at “Thinking about Strategy,” an article in The McKinsey Quarterly Monthly Newsletter. In the article, describing “tests” for the company’s knowledge strategy, one such test asks if the strategy in question taps into a “true source” of advantage, with competitive advantage stemming from two “sources of scarcity,” positional advantage and special capabilities. Of course. And could there be a better approach for strategic knowledge professionals, as they seek to establish the company as a knowledge…
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