©1999 Jennie Starr
Jennie Starr

Staying on Top of What's New in Knowledge Management

Knowledge management - dare I say it? Buzzword of the 90's. What that means for professionals who care deeply about improving internal systems for information and enhancing productivity is that there will be new and innovative work in this field every day and mountains of literature to read to stay on top of these innovations.

What do you read for guidance? What Associations exist that can help? Most professionals regardless of the profession rarely find time to catch up on their reading.   And when they do read, they focus only on their industry's literature. I strongly recommend you don't. The perspective that each profession brings to the table is fresh and very helpful for anyone in the process of thinking through their knowledge management strategy. It is also a reminder that if you are not working with management, IT, your information professionals and HR you are probably leaving a critical piece out of your project.

For a knowledge management initiative to succeed, there must be teamwork. Multiple departments within an organization must be consultedl. Management, Human resources, training, IT and Library or Information Professionals can each contribute expertise to the mix. The teamwork often takes understanding the other department's concerns. Read their literature and learn what they care about and why. Take advantage of the variety of professionals who are all attempting to make a difference with knowledge management initiatives. Learn from their mistakes. Learn from their successes.

The following are the some of the many resources you can use to stay current on issues like the ones I mention above and the many more critical topics to consider for a successful knowledge management initiative.

Look for These Authors…

Watch for articles written by any of these authors. They know of what they speak. Each has authored substantial works in the area of knowledge management. You can also find articles in publications from these individuals pretty regularly that address new technology, success stories and advice.

  1. Tom Davenport, Director of the Information Management Program at the University of Texas, Austin
  2. Peter F. Drucker, Professor of social science and management at Claremont Graduate University
  3. Tom Koulopoulos, founder of the Delphi Group, author of Creating Corporate Instinct
  4. Leif Edvinsson
  5. Peter Senge
  6. Tom Stewart
  7. Robert Buckman, Buckman Labs

Consultants

Watch for articles from representatives of any of these consulting firms. The consulting firms are leading the pack with respect to innovative knowledge management projects. They are also being engaged by the largest corporations to help implement similar projects. These firms frequently conduct research, bench-marking studies and publish white papers that are available from them directly or via their web sites.

  1. Gartner Group, information technology monitoring and consultant company
  2. Delphi Consulting Group Inc., Boston
  3. Arthur Anderson
  4. Accenture
  5. Coopers & Lybrand
  6. Deloitte & Touche
  7. Ernst & Young
  8. KPMG Peat Marwick
  9. PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Books for Background

  1. Dorothy Leonard-Barton, Wellsprings of Knowledge (Harvard Business Press)
  2. Thomas Stewart, Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations (Doubleday/Currency, 1997)

Web Resources: Listservs, web magazines and web sites on KM resources

  1. KM World magazine: free subscription is available on the web site. Archives of prior magazines, white papers and discussion forums are available at the site as well.
  2. Brint
  3. Montague Institute: Society of Knowledge Base Publishers to stay up to date on developments, tools and techniques in this area

Popular Magazines

  1. Upside or Red Herring monthly magazines
  2. IntraNet Professional, from Information Today, Inc. Editor Howard McQueen with a library focus
  3. InformationWeek: regular articles on the topic
  4. Fast Company
  5. ImagingWorld

Trade Associations

  1. American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC)
  2. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
  3. Knowledge Management Network
  4. Sla - Special Libraries Association
  5. American Society for Training & Development Inc., has a publication called Training &Development
  6. FID News Bulletin