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February 2002 Knowledge Management and Information Technology Published on behalf of CEPIS
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Guest Editors: Christopher Lueg and Xavier Alamán
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Guest Editors: Christopher Lueg and Xavier Alamán
Acrobat Reader is required to display PDF files
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Abstract: A comprehensive list of books, conferences, journals, tools and portals on Knowledge Management.
Introduction.- Knowledge
Management and Information Technology: Relationship and Perspectives [PDF:
5 pages, 535 KB]
Christopher Lueg,
Guest
Editor
Abstract: In these days, knowledge management is receiving attention all over the world. This globalization aspect is reflected in this special issue as the contributions were collected by two guest editors living on the opposite sides of the world: Xavier Alamán in Spain and myself in Australia. Being connected only by the global communication system e-mail, we worked on providing a good overview of the field and on digging more deeply into a few selected areas.
Editing a special issue is always a
challenge but for a number of reasons a special issue on knowledge management
is a particular challenge. First of all, being a current fad knowledge
management is in the limelight of public and scientific interest. As a
consequence an abundance of articles and books has been published over
the past few years discussing every imaginable (and sometimes unimaginable)
aspect of what authors consider knowledge management. One impact of this
development is that often narrow definitions of knowledge and knowledge
management make their way into the minds of those interested in these complex
topics. One of the objectives of this special issue is therefore to provide
a bit of an overview of the most interesting topics without trying to cover
absolutely every niche in knowledge management research. One merit of the
popularity of knowledge management is that quite accessible introductions
to the field, such as Davenport's and Prusak's (1998) "Working knowledge:
how organizations manage what they know" [Davenport/Prusak 98], are available.
Having said this, we would like to mention that this special issue is not
meant to be a Knowledge Management 101; rather, we try to raise interest
in the topic by pointing to some important developments in the field.
Knowing is a Human Act
[PDF:
3 pages, 529 KB]
Richard McDermott
Abstract: In the last
decade many companies have begun using information technology to leverage
the knowledge of their professional staff, hoping to get people in different
divisions and locations to document and share ideas and insights. But most
companies soon discover that leveraging knowledge involves community building
as well as information technology. This is because people often need to
share knowledge that requires a human relationship to think about, understand
and share. Ironically, while information technology has inspired the "knowledge
revolution," it takes building human communities to realize it.
The Paradox of "Knowledge
Management" [PDF: 4 pages, 533 KB]
Jacky Swan and Harry
Scarbough
Abstract: Knowledge
Management has emerged as a critical new approach to problems associated
with new forms of organizing and the distribution of knowledge. This contribution
summarizes an analysis of what is written in the name of on Knowledge Management.
The paradox this reveals is that Knowledge Management itself suffers from
the problems it is trying to address --i.e. problems to do with the distribution
and lack of integration of knowledge across, in this case, disciplinary
boundaries.
State-of-Practice of Knowledge
Management Systems: Results of an Empirical Study
[PDF:
9 pages, 569 KB]
Ronald Maier
Abstract: With the
advent of modern information and communication technologies the discussion
about organizational learning and knowledge management has found its technological
counterpart: knowledge management systems (KMS). KMS are seen as enabling
technologies for an effective and efficient knowledge management. There
have been a number of corresponding success stories published in the literature.
However, up to date information about the state-of-practice of KMS and
of challenges and barriers to their successful application is scarce. This
paper presents some results of a comprehensive empirical study in the German
speaking countries.
Enabling Distributed Knowledge
Management: Managerial and Technological Implications
[PDF:
7 pages, 591 KB]
Matteo Bonifacio, Paolo
Bouquet and Paolo Traverso
Abstract: In this
paper we show that the typical architecture of current KM systems reflects
an objectivistic epistemology and a traditional managerial control paradigm.
We argue that such an objectivistic epistemology is inconsistent with many
theories on the nature of knowledge, in which subjectivity and sociality
are taken as essential features of knowledge creation and sharing. We show
that adopting such a new epistemological view has dramatic consequences
at an architectural, managerial and technological level.
Knowledge-Assisted Reverse
Engineering of Virtual Work Processes [PDF:
5 pages, 583 KB]
Robert P. Biuk-Aghai,
Simeon J. Simoff and Ingrid Slembek
Abstract: Designing
virtual workspaces is largely an ad-hoc activity, and it is difficult and
expensive to obtain knowledge about actual collaborative work processes
to aid this design. However, workspace configurations naturally emerge
during project work. This article presents a design approach for virtual
workspaces, combining data mining techniques for refining lower-level models
with a reverse engineering cycle to create upper-level models.
Data Mining of Collaborative
Virtual Workspaces: The "Space-Data-Memory" Framework
[PDF:
4 pages, 685 KB]
Simeon J. Simoff and
Robert P. Biuk-Aghai
Abstract: Collaborative
virtual workspaces are increasingly becoming part of professional practice.
In addition to providing collaboration support, they have the potential
for collecting vast amounts of data about actions and content of collaborative
project activities. The presented research aims to collect and utilise
this data effectively, extract meaningful insights from it and reuse discovered
knowledge in the development of new workspaces.
Communication-oriented
Computer Support for Knowledge Management [PDF:
5 pages, 539 KB]
Volkmar Pipek and Markus
Won
Abstract: In this
contribution we discuss possible approaches to exploring new directions
in support for knowledge management with computers. We consider networked
computers in their role as communication media, and look at three perspectives
on communication support for knowledge management: communication on information
artifacts, (persistent) communications as information artifacts, and communication
on infrastructures for information artifacts. We describe some basic ideas
as well as providing some examples of possible functionality from the literature.
Some Critical Remarks
in Favour of IT-Based Knowledge Management [PDF:
6 pages, 544 KB]
Reinhard Riedl
Abstract: We shall
discuss the state of the art in contemporary knowledge management with
respect to processes, tools, people, and the role and potential impact
of information technology. In particular, we shall stress the importance
of intellect and culture hereby.
Knowledge Management in
a Law Firm
[PDF: 5 pages, 600 KB]
Cristina Rodríguez
Morcón, José Pérez García, Juan Alberto Sigüenza
Pizarro
Abstract: A legal
knowledge management tool was developed for the Spanish law firm of Uría
and Menéndez. The final product is the result of the combined efforts
of a series of internal groups involved in the development: end users (practising
lawyers), knowledge management area (research lawyers), systems area (projects,
networks and systems units) plus an external collaborating company (Jazztel),
which developed the final IT product. This project is part of a strategic
plan for technological innovation, one of the most important aspects of
which is the development of the Uría and Menéndez portal.
SINTAGMA: From Information
to Knowledge [PDF: 4 pages, 676 KB]
Joaquín Bastos
Amigo
Abstract: Sintagma
is an integral information management platform. It is capable of completing
100% of the information cycle in a software solution, although it has interfaces
to use or to be used from and by any external system. It has development
environments, generic interactive controllers, generation of dynamic HTML
pages, structure design, its own data-engine, etc. Sintagma is based on
a different principle from most information management computer systems.
It is based on nodes and relationships, following a model which could be
considered neuronal or cognitive.
IT Tools for Knowledge
Management: A Study of the Current Situation [PDF:
6 pages, 546 KB]
Ruth Cobos, José
A. Esquivel and Xavier Alamán
Abstract: In this
document we describe a classification for systems of knowledge management
based on two technical features we consider fundamental: the support the
system gives to collaborative work and the focus it has on providing a
structure for the knowledge it manages. We use this classification to make
an analysis of what are, in our opinion, the most interesting knowledge
management systems, both in terms of systems already commercially available
and those under development in research projects. In this analysis we have
included what we call Knowledge Management Integrated Systems, which fulfil
the two characteristics on which our classification is based, with the
aim of establishing a technical benchmark for these systems.
Knowledge Management:
A Trip Round Europe [PDF: 6 pages,
779 KB]
Fabián García
Pastor
Abstract: The development
of knowledge management has a voice of its own in Europe. Europe's potential
in this matter (cultural diversity, experience in the development of standards,
mobile communications, etc.) has fostered the creation of a mass of young,
enterprising companies with sound technological backgrounds which have
become world leaders in knowledge management products. In this article
we take a look at knowledge management applications in Europe, their manufacturers
and some of the main projects and lines of research. Finally we consider
some possible scenarios for how society and technologies will evolve in
the coming years and how this will impact on the future development or
stagnation of knowledge management.
Efficient Management of
Multilingual Electronic Conferences [PDF:
5 pages, 1,394 KB]
(Knowledge Management in
a Latin American Virtual Community)
Daniel Pimienta, Catherine
Dhaussy
Abstract: Since the mid-1990's, shifts of the Internet towards business and entertainment have called for innovative approaches in the management of virtual communities. Fashionable web conferences often fail in communication aspects; the information they provide, although nicely organized, cannot replace computer mediated communication. Chat tools, on the other hand, suffer from the opposite flaw: synchronous communication is generally poor at good information management. This paper claims for an alternative approach focusing more on methodology than software to generate communication and to disseminate information. The methodology aims at decreasing the level of the barriers (information overload, time, language…), hence increasing the incentive for proactivity. The experiment was conducted in the framework of a Latin American virtual community dealing with social impact of the Internet. The proposed methodology allows a better thematical focus, and it respects people's schedules, languages, and cultures. This study presents the first results and opens perspectives for future applications.
Christopher Lueg is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (Australia). He has a diploma in Computer Science from the University of Dortmund (Germany) and a doctoral degree from the University of Zurich (Switzerland). His interests are trans-disciplinary in the intersection of computer science, information science, and cognitive science. Apart from this special issue, he is editing (with Danyel Fisher, University of California at Irvine, USA) the book "From Usenet to CoWebs: Interacting with Social Information Spaces" to be published by Springer in 2002, and (with Blaise Cronin, Indiana University, USA) a special topic issue of the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) on "Soft Power: Informational Ambiguities and Asymmetries in the Network Age". <lueg@it.uts.edu.au>
Xavier Alamán
is Tenured Professor of Computational Science and Artificial Intelligence
in the Higher Technical School of Computer Science of the Universidad Autónoma
de Madrid. He received his doctorate through the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Programme of the same university; he also holds the following
qualifications: MSc Computer Science (UCLA), Graduate in Computer Science
(Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and Graduate in Physics (Universidad
Complutense de Madrid). He is currently researching into the field of collaborative
work and virtual communities, and their application to knowledge management.
He is a regular collaborator with the European Commission on matters related
to these fields. <xavier.alaman@ii.uam.es>
| Last updated on February 28th, 2002 | by Rafael Fernández Calvo and François Louis Nicolet |
| <rfcalvo@ati.es> |