Sharing organizational knowledge supports onboarding, coaching, mentoring, and the day-to-day smooth functioning of the workplace. So why are the procedures, policies, and best practices for your organization often so hard to find? Although the term "knowledge management" might conjure up images of a bureaucratic labyrinth, essentially it means getting the right information to the right people at the right time. A lot of that information is embedded in work practices or may be siloed where it can't easily be shared; managing it successfully hinges on effective communication with every person on your team. This book surveys approaches to knowledge management (KM) that address hierarchical power structures and internal competition to get measurable results. With insights drawn from six case studies at academic and special libraries, in this book you’ll find guidance on such topics as
- demystifying KM by reframing the concept to reflect organizational needs;
- the six elements of an actionable knowledge audit;
- how to harvest insights from staff at all levels of the organization;
- ten characteristics that define effective communities of practice;
- enabling KM through platforms like WordPress, Google Drive, and Dropbox or by adapting library tools like LibAnswers or ArchiveSpace;
- fostering knowledge sharing among liaison librarians;
- how interim administrators can develop a KM plan;
- sharing tacit knowledge with storytelling; and
- methods for securing knowledge before employee departure.
Your library already contains organizational knowledge—both in your employees and in your institution; this book will lead you towards guiding, fostering, and organizing that knowledge for improved organizational fitness.
Your library already contains organizational knowledge—both in your employees and in your institution; this book will lead you towards guiding, fostering, and organizing that knowledge for improved organizational fitness.
Contributed by librarians and others from the US, the 10 chapters in this volume consist of essays and case studies of knowledge management, to help librarians create, innovate, organize, capture, and apply new knowledge at a library. The book focuses on the use of knowledge management for better structuring, informing, motivating, and creating organizational knowledge, especially in internal library environments, and explains what knowledge management is and is not. It discusses the general history and theories of knowledge management, library challenges and issues, technological and conceptual tools, and the future of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science in knowledge management, then provides case studies from five academic and one special library in the US, illustrating how libraries have used elements from knowledge management to address organizational issues like preserving the institutional activity and memory of a parent organization, liaison work, interim leadership, and technology. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
