1. Blogging for Knowledge Exchange Darlene Fichter Data Library Coordinator University of Saskatchewan Library Darlene.Fichter@usask.ca Internet Librarian 2002

2. Overview Intranets and KM Knowledge exchange What about blogs?

3. Knowledge Management KM is an umbrella term for a collection of disciplines, methods and tools that support creation and sharing of intellectual assets to achieve business/organization goals Often use information infrastructure Patti Anklam, Social Network Analysis, KMWorld2002

4. Intranets & KM Formally or informally, intranets support KM by: Encoding Storing Transmitting information Typically projects focus on: Knowledge bases provide information to support staff Communities of practice

5. Driving Forces Need to innovate and adapt more quickly Improve business processes Succession planning Smarter Faster Better Fifty percent of faculty at our university will retire within 5 years.

6. The KM Promise Instant sharing and flow of strategic information and knowledge Seamlessly everywhere throughout the organization Ensuring a well informed workforce Respond to the vagaries of the new economy A way to “capture” what senior staff know

7. KM Modes of Knowledge Transfer Explicit knowledge is definable and objective; easily documented and transferred

8. KM Modes of Knowledge Transfer Tacit knowledge lives in people’s heads and their practices; used every day but you see it only when it’s used. “Know – how” Most difficult and elusive

9. Tapping into Tacit Knowledge You can influence and encourage Storytelling and coaching are two effective techniques

10. Organizational Challenges KM is a great concept Many KM solutions are complex Workflow, software, implementation Highly structured Mega projects In short, they are overwhelming

11. Employee Challenges Employees are reluctant to share My knowledge is what makes me valuable to my employee, if I share it my value diminishes “What’s in it for me?” How will I be valuable if I share all my “know-how”? Cynicism about the hype and words Librarians are knowledge-brokers

12. What might work? Foster knowledge sharing and exchange Bottom up rather than a top down

13. From Blogs to K-Logs* Blogs K-Logs Firewall *John Robb, President of Userland is the originator of the concept k-logs.

14. Klogging – Another Definition Dave Gurteen described the “purpose of a klog is to write about, comment or point to web resources on a particular topic.”

15. New Features: Track back Infancy stage Supports bi-directional linking

16. Where do blogs fit? Explicit Knowledge Knowledge Repository Blogs KM

17. Blogs Light weight content management tools Post with a web form, bookmarklet or windows client Quick and easy to set up Simple for employees to contribute to corporate intranet/knowledge base KISS

18. Solve Real World Problems 1. Information overload 2. Collapse of email

19. Filters and Mining Human powered filters

20. Teams Capture the facts Plans Steps in the process Best new web resources Lessons learned Tips Where to look Collaborative content

21. Strengths on an Intranet Searchable archives Corporate search engines can spider them

22. Where do Blogs Fit? Tacit Knowledge Storytelling Blogs KM

23. Unlock Tacit Knowledge Stories are a good framework for sharing information, meaning and knowledge (Nichani/Rajamanickam) Blogs encourage story telling Fosters understanding because they usually offer context Good stores resonate, so do good blogs Blogging is a train-of-thought technology. Scott Dinsdale

24. Relationships Excellent at ONE to MANY communication Allows participation Breaks down the silos Allows us to have “connected content”

25. Informal Communities The ease of cross-linking and the conversational nature, fosters social networking Self – organizing communities emerge

26. Unlock Expertise Who knows what? How can I judge their “credibility”?

27. Support Smart Distribution Methods One blog or many RSS Syndication of one blog, categories to specific groups and individuals automatically Email

28. Tools More than 3 dozen tools Just a mention of 2 business focused blogging products: Trellix Traction software My January/February 2003 column in Online magazine, www. onlineinc.com will talk about how to choose tools.

29. What’s in it for ME? Self-rewarding Often bloggers report they discover their own interests, refine their perspectives … “Peer” recognition

30. Definition of a Knowledge Worker “A knowledge worker is someone whose job entails having really interesting conversations at work.” David Weinberger

31. Questions?