Knowledge Management in a Changing World - Best Practices Revisited

Just found an excellent article on "Knowledge Management in a Changing World," by Steven A. Lastres, Director of Library and Knowledge Management at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. West Librarian Relations - Law Librarians newsletter - March/April 2009–Law Books and Legal Information–West:, Also linked at Future Ready 365 and India librarian international

Contents of the article include issues, such as, Knowledge Management in Action, Becoming Business Managers, and Other considerations in selecting and deploying KM services.

Extract:

Since the earliest days of libraries, librarians have served as knowledge managers. Whether they were maintaining the scrolls at the Library of Alexandria, creating the catalog for the House of Wisdom (a Ninth Century Islamic library), or assembling annotated links for the law firm intranet, law librarians have always been in the forefront of organizing information and adding value to it. Librarians have long excelled at getting information into the hands of the people who need it. The precise definition of knowledge management (KM) is an elusive one, but one pillar of KM practice holds that knowledge management "is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets."(1)...

Other considerations in selecting and deploying KM services include the following:

•Access needs to be intuitive–no training should be required. A well-developed taxonomy that makes sense to the legal staff is key. Content ought to be logically organized. The process is a laborious one for the KM staff, but it pays off in time saved by attorneys;
•It also pays to train attorneys how to get the most out of the services KM makes available. Getting the best value out of subscription services is a two-step process, in which the KM manager (1) makes sure the legal staff knows what is available and (2) makes sure that staff know the ins and outs of searching those services. continue reading

(1) Megan Santosus & Jon Surmacz, The ABCs of Knowledge Management, CIO Magazine, 2001.

Personal Knowledge Management, Edited by David Pauleen and Gary Gorman (2011) - A new book

Personal Knowledge Management: Individual, Organizational and Social Perspectives, Edited by David Pauleen and Gary Gorman. Gower Pub Co (2011) 276 pages, ISBN: 9780566088926
About the book:
By delving both deeply and broadly into its subject, the distinguished authors help all those concerned with 'knowledge work' and 'knowledge workers' to see how PKM supports and affects individuals, organizations and society as a whole; to better understand the concepts involved and to benefit from relevant research in this important area.

Table of Contents:

Preface;
The nature and value of personal knowledge management, G.E. Gorman and David J. Pauleen;

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? A stoical perspective on personal knowledge management, Peter Case and Jonathan Gosling;

From information to imagination: multivalent logic and system creation in personal knowledge management, Peter Murphy;

Recovering the individual as the locus of knowledge: communication and PKM, Mark Wolfe;

Systems intelligence as a lens for managing personal knowledge, Rachel Jones, James Corner and Raimo P. Hamalainen;

Managing your own knowledge: a personal perspective, Larry Prusak and Jocelyn Cranefield;

KM and the individual: it's nothing personal, David Snowden, David Pauleen and Sally Jansen van Vuuren;

Managing personal connectivity: finding flow for regenerative knowledge creation, Darl G. Kolb and Paul Collins;

No knowledge but through information, William Jones;

Personal knowledge management and knowledge worker capabilities, Thomas H. Davenport;

Exploring the linkages between personal knowledge management and organizational learning, Ricky K.F. Cheong and Eric Tsui;

The importance of personal knowledge management in the knowledge society, Karl M. Wiig;

Fair Use by Social Media, Revisted

Today, as I write this post, I get a) forwarded email, with fulltext, and NO citations (owner / creator / distributor), b) another invitation to download for free some ebooks, and c) the question of 'Is Fair Use in Jeopardy.' As librarians are we to allowed to extract or quote (fairly) or NOT? WebProNews' extract brings to fore a lot of recent transactions and the debate is again open for us (see the extract below).


Fair Use Controversy: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Is Fair Use in Jeopardy? WebProNews,
Extract:

So the whole "what is fair use?" debate is back, as Fortune describes the business practices of Righthaven and the Las Vegas Review Journal of going after publications for violating copyright.

As the piece by John Patrick Pullen explains, the operation involves "transferring the copyright of content that has been reproduced on the Internet — either entirely or in part — from the Review-Journal to Righthaven, which then files lawsuits against the alleged infringers."

The EFF has reportedly stepped up to represent some clients the firm has gone after, while most are just settling with Righthaven, which has been seeking a maximum penalty of $150,000 plus seizure of the domain name in every case, according to the report.

The piece does appear to be a little sensational, asking questions like "Could clicking a Like button lead to a lawsuit?" and "Are the days of posting stories to Facebook, emailing articles to friends, or printing out pieces numbered?" continue reading (see also the comments)

On the same shelf:

Is there a cure for Facebook-itis? By Heather Mallick, Toronto Star -- Facebook’s purchase of tiny, sad Instagram for $1 billion reveals its desperate hunt for authenticity...

Wikileaks: Libraries and librarians respond

Extract:

Dec 6th, 2010 | By jshrubsole, Saskatchewan Library Association
It’s hard to ignore. The news is full of information about Wikileaks and leaked documents. So what has been the response by libraries and librarians?

Some library blogs merely re-report the news (like Law Librarian), but those librarians who personally comment on the issue are as divided as all other people in society.

On the same shelf:

Wikileaks: Where the Hole is Big Enough to Drive a Truck Through, The Other Librarian

Library of Congress to block WikiLeaks Most library blogs, however, report and comment on this action.

The official Library of Congress blog explains why they are blocking WikiLeaks

Tim Berners-Lee says Facebook 'threatens' web future

Media monitoring on Tim Berners-Lee's remarks on the closed Web (as against his vision of an open web) based on his Scientific American essay:

"# Threats to the Internet, such as companies or governments that interfere with or snoop on Internet traffic, compromise basic human network rights.
# Web applications, linked data and other future Web technologies will flourish only if we protect the medium’s basic principles."

Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality, By Tim Berners-Lee Nov 22, 2010, Scientific American

Web Science: Studying the Internet to Protect Our Future, By Nigel Shadbolt and Tim Berners-Lee Sep 15, 2008Scientific American
"The relentless rise in Web pages and links is creating emergent properties, from social networking to virtual identity theft, that are transforming society."

NEWS MEDIA:

Web founder leaves his mark on Facebook’s wall Financial Times - Richard Waters, November 24 2010

Web icon says Facebook is a trap, Indian Express, Nov 24 2010

Extract:
In an essay published in Scientific American, Berners-Lee said that the Web is affected by elements that have ‘begun to chip away at its founding principles’, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Social networking sites that do not allow users to extract the information they put into them is a ‘problem’ that could mean the web is ‘broken into fragmented islands’, he said.
Although Facebook recently began allowing users to download profile information, including status updates and photos, it has been roundly criticised for leaving users'' networks of contacts ‘walled’ inside its own site.

Tim Berners-Lee Criticizes Web Leaderss, PC World - Nancy Gohring - ‎Nov 23, 2010‎

Extract:
The essay criticizes an array of companies including Apple, Facebook, Verizon, Google, and generally, ISPs (Internet service providers), for actions that he says could significantly hamper the potential of the Web.

Creator of the Web calls for continued open Web, Washington Post (blog) - Melissa Bell - ‎Nov 22, 2010‎

Berners-Lee warns web success may 'fragment' internet
‎Financial Times - Joseph Menn - Chris Nuttall, November 20 2010

Facebook might divide web: Web Founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee, French Tribune - Brenda McGregor, 11/22/2010

Facebook Q&A Update: Sorry, we're not ready for you just yet

News maker @ FB Blog: Searching for Answers? Ask Facebook Questions

by Blake Ross on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 4:09pm
Millions of people ask their friends questions on Facebook every day. What new music should I listen to? Where's the best sushi place in town? How do I learn to play the piano?

Today we're introducing Facebook Questions, a beta product that lets you pose questions like these to the Facebook community. With this new application, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics.

Since we like to develop products carefully over time with your help, Facebook Questions is available to a limited number of people right now, and we'll be developing it rapidly based on their feedback. We're aiming to bring this product to all of you as quickly as we can.

But, Beta is only in news

"We can't wait to show you what Facebook Questions has to offer but unfortunately we're not ready for you just yet. Look for Questions on your homepage in the near future.
In the meantime, click the image on the right to see what a question page will look like." Facebook.

info courtesy:

News: How Facebook Handles Questions Could Play Key Role in Future Search Habits, http://www.WebProNews.com

image from Sociolatte: Facebook Questions