Supporting the KM
Environment—The Roles, Responsibilities, and Rights of Information
Professionals
By Sue Henczel
Sue
Henczel is the Training, Cataloguing and Consortia Manager for CAVAL Collaborative
Solutions,
an academic library cooperative in Melbourne, Australia.
As I have conducted workshops across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and
the United States over the past few years, it has become increasingly evident
to me that while some information professionals have successfully embraced
change and moved forward, many others are struggling to find their place in the
knowledge management (KM) environments that have emerged within their
organizations. Many of those who are struggling have years of expertise, while
others are relatively new to the profession. Regardless of their tenure, many
individuals have seen their roles and responsibilities downgraded because they
were not perceived as contributing directly to the KM initiatives. Some of our
readings tell us that we have to develop new skill sets to remain relevant,
while others tell us that we need a new mindset to move into our 21st century
roles. I hope this article, which incorporates my own thoughts and ideas and
those of colleagues and workshop participants, will encourage constructive
discussion of the roles, responsibilities, and rights of information
professionals in this era of knowledge management.
How KM Has Changed Our World
Let us begin by looking at what KM is and how it has changed our roles
within our organizations. Knowledge management is a management philosophy
comprising elements of a number of disciplines, including human resources
management, organizational learning, information management, and information
technology (IT) (Standards Australia, 2003). The amalgamation of these elements
into what many consider a “new” discipline has raised numerous issues,
including those of ownership, resourcing, competencies, roles, and
responsibilities. Many organizations have embraced KM with a clean sweep - new
management, new funding and resourcing, and new objectives - often ignoring the
relationships between what they believe they need and what they already have.
Many organizations that have embraced KM already have well-established
information management processes, yet they have often sidelined or overlooked
those processes when new KM initiatives have been introduced. This situation
has had a significant impact on the success of the initiatives. Where a KM
process is established without being underpinned by good information
management, the knowledge that is created or reused may be substandard or
inaccurate, as may be based on irrelevant, inaccurate, outdated, or
unauthoritative information.
Information professionals are trained to manage information and to
provide the most relevant and up-to-date information to their client base. They
are also trained to ensure that information products and services are aligned
with the achievement of organizational objectives. These are critical processes
in ensuring that information users have the “best” information available so
that the knowledge generated is “good and valid” and meets organizational
requirements. This tells us that our skills and knowledge are still relevant
and valuable, yet KM initiatives and environments are being established and
nurtured without a clearly defined role for information professionals.
There are obviously a number of possible futures for us. In his latest
book Beyond Degrees, Guy St. Clair introduces us to Knowledge Services,
which he defines as the amalgamation of information management, knowledge
management, and organizational learning. St. Clair presents Knowledge Services
as a new profession that underpins the 21st century, knowledge-focused,
learning organization. I recommend this book, as it presents a clearly
articulated view of one possible future.
TFPL, a consulting firm in the UK, provide a framework for a different
future in their research into the skills required in the knowledge economy. The
resultant Knowledge Skills Map depicts skills sets covering strategic and
business skills, management skills, intellectual and learning skills,
communication and interpersonal skills, information management skills, and
information technology skills. They also provide core competencies for
knowledge cultures.
In addition to the KM books that relate to our profession, we must begin
the read (or at least be aware of) the KM books that our managers and
decision-makers are reading. This is where they get many of the ideas that will
shape our futures.
Some Thoughts about KM and the KM
Environment
Knowledge management is seen as a means of achieving organizational
goals. It consists of the systematic processes that are put into place to
identify, create, capture, share, and leverage the knowledge that is needed for
an organization to succeed. Putting it simply, KM aims to (1) determine what
knowledge an organization needs to be successful; (2) capture and store
explicit knowledge until required for reuse; and (3) manage and exploit the
tacit knowledge that resides within people.
KM initiatives use four primary processes to achieve these aims:
1.
identification/discovery
2.
creation/acquisition
3.
capture/storage/codification/retrieval
4.
sharing/transfer/flow
The KM environment is holistic, with all processes and programs having
an organizational focus rather than a section/department/business unit focus,
and incorporating the external environment in which the organization operates.
It is also open and visible - knowing what everyone does and why (where they
fit in the organization and what they contribute). The KM environment is a
sharing culture, value based and people focused, motivated and committed,
proactive, resourced and supported, and technology enabled.
So Where Do Information Professionals
Fit?
When working in a knowledge environment, the information professional
has three primary roles and responsibilities:
1.
to provide information products and services that
continually and consistently match the requirements of the organization;
2.
to educate information users to ensure that they can
access and use the information products and services effectively to maximize
the quality and consistency of organizational knowledge; and
3.
to facilitate the sharing and transfer of knowledge.
Each of the four primary KM processes is underpinned or supported by
tasks/activities that require the skill and knowledge of an information
professional.
|
Knowledge identification/discovery |
Defines what knowledge the organization needs for
business success and identifies what it has and doesn’t have (as well as what
it has that it doesn’t need) |
Needs assessment Information audit Knowledge audit |
|
Knowledge creation/acquisition |
Determines where valuable knowledge is being created
within the organization (and by whom, which process, etc.), and defines what
the organization needs to acquire from external sources |
Select, source, and acquire external resources Source and evaluate external information Identify and evaluate internal information Facilitate communities of practice Design and develop information products Package information Negotiate contracts and licenses |
|
Knowledge capture/storage /codification/retrieval |
Supports the capture, storage, and codification of valuable
knowledge for effective retrieval |
Develop thesauri/ taxonomies Index and abstract Code Catalogue/classify/ metadata Ensure effective and efficient access and delivery Train in access and retrieval Communicate delivery options |
|
Knowledge sharing/transfer /flow |
Develops a sharing culture so that knowledge is transferred
efficiently to where it is needed |
Map information/ knowledge Facilitate communities of practice |
We can successfully undertake many of these processes or activities
using our existing skills and knowledge. Continuing education (CE) courses can
help us with those that were not covered by our LIS programs.
We are well trained to manage explicit knowledge that is documented in
reports, records, databases, and so forth, but explicit knowledge has no value
to an organization until a person uses it. To create new knowledge and to
effectively reuse captured and stored knowledge requires an explicit-tacit (or
a tacit-tacit) interaction. Consequently, storing explicit knowledge is only a
part of the KM process - it must be stored in such a way that it can be
accessed and used by the right person, at the right time, in the right context
before it has business value. Information professionals can become facilitators
of this process by -
facilitating the access and retrieval process by creating indexes,
taxonomies, thesauri, and abstracts; applying metadata and otherwise
cataloguing and classifying the documents;
Educating information users in efficient and effective retrieval
practices;
Ensuring that any required external information is acquired;
Maintaining a liaison with IT professionals to match access and
delivery options with user preferences; and
Maintaining a liaison with human resource/training professionals
regarding information and computer literacy skills and training.
KM acknowledges that the knowledge
that exists within an organization’s employees is its key to success; therefore
the first of two major changes in our roles as information professionals is a
shift from a technical/process focus to a more people-orientated focus. The
emphasis is not only on the processes that enable information to be provided
and used effectively, but on the personal attributes necessary to take on the
required facilitation and communication roles.
The
second major change is a shift from the traditional concept of providing a
service to being part of the organization’s core business. We continue to
become highly skilled at information access and delivery, but we lack the
overall knowledge of the organization and its operations to participate
actively in planning and decision-making (Abell and Oxbrow, 2001). This
is particularly evident where information professionals have taken on a diverse
range of new responsibilities without dropping the activities that no longer
add business value.
We
need to examine our new responsibilities and evaluate where our competencies
place us. We then need to determine what actions are necessary to enable us to
move forward. It is likely that those actions will include a mixture of
skill/knowledge-based and personal development programs, as selecting CE
programs that are purely skill or knowledge focused alone will not enable us to
become key players if we do not have the requisite personal attributes of
motivation, confidence, and assertiveness.
Competencies
comprise skills, knowledge, and personal attributes. These components must be
present in the right balance for a person to be competent at a specific task,
so it is important to understand what the components of a competency are in
order to evaluate whether we have them or need to acquire them. To select CE
and personal development programs, we must also identify the components of the
competencies that we wish to acquire or improve. We can then rate ourselves in
order to prioritize our individual learning requirements.
Breaking down the competencies into their components gives us the lists
of skills, knowledge, and personal attributes that comprise the competencies.
One of the critical issues here is that often a skill can be learned but cannot
be applied effectively without the requisite personal attributes. For example,
communication is a skill, and the processes can be learned. To be effective
communicators we must have the confidence, motivation, and self-assurance to
apply the learning. Consequently, “communication” is listed as a skill, whereas
“effective communication” can be listed as a personal attribute. A further
example is the skill of negotiation. Once again, we can learn the processes,
but without the necessary personal attributes such as effective communication,
motivation, open-mindedness, flexibility we are unlikely to negotiate well.
Below are some examples of the skills, knowledge, and personal
attributes that workshop participants have applied to the KM competencies.
These are not definitive lists, but examples of the how the lists of skills,
knowledge, and personal attributes can be developed from the competencies.
|
Knowledge Identification/Discovery Defines what knowledge the organization needs for
business success and identifies what it has and doesn’t have (as well as what
it has that it doesn’t need) |
||||
|
Information Professional Contributions |
Skills |
Knowledge |
Personal Attributes |
|
|
Needs assessment Information audit Knowledge audit |
Audit/Survey Analysis Evaluation Planning Decision-making Prioritization Negotiation Project management Communication Team development and management Facilitation |
Of the organization -Political -Cultural -Social -Economic/Financial -Technical -Structure External Environment Industry Social networks |
Confident Effective communicator Self-starter Collaborative Flexible Open-minded Able to learn Inquisitive |
|
|
|
||||
|
Knowledge Creation/Acquisition Determines where valuable knowledge is being created
within the organization (and by whom, which process, etc.), and define what
needs to be acquired from external sources |
||||
|
Information Professional Contributions |
Skills |
Knowledge |
Personal Attributes |
|
|
Select, source, and acquire external resources Evaluate resources Identify and rate internal information Facilitate communities of practice Design and develop information products Package information Negotiate contracts and licenses Information/knowledge maps |
Selection Acquisitions Evaluation (content, vendor, format, delivery, etc.) Communication User profiling Negotiation (with users, vendors, management) Financial management Mapping Training/instruction |
Of the organization -Political -Cultural -Social -Economic/Financial -Technical -Structure External Environment Information seeking behavior User behaviors and preferences Legislation Content Industry Learning styles |
Effective communicator Self-starter Collaborative Flexible Open-minded Able to learn Inquisitive Proactive Risk-taker Confident |
|
|
|
||||
|
Knowledge
Capture/Storage/Codification/Retrieval Supports the capture, storage, and
codification of valuable knowledge for effective retrieval. |
||||
|
Information Professional Contributions |
Skills |
Knowledge |
Personal Attributes |
|
|
Develop thesauri/ taxonomies Index and abstract Code Catalogue/classify/ metadata Ensure effective and efficient access and delivery Train in access and retrieval Communicate delivery options |
Thesauri/taxonomy development Indexing Abstracting Coding Cataloguing and classification Metadata application Training/instruction Communication Negotiation Facilitation Search and retrieval |
Information organization User behaviors and preferences Technical infrastructure Learning styles |
Effective communication Confident Collaborative Open-minded |
|
|
|
||||
|
Knowledge Sharing/Transfer/Flows Develops a sharing culture so that knowledge
is transferred efficiently to where it is needed |
||||
|
Information Professional Contributions |
Skills |
Knowledge |
Personal Attributes |
|
|
Map information/ knowledge flows Facilitate communities of practice Facilitate information/knowledge sharing |
Mapping Analysis Communication Training/instructional Team development and management Facilitation |
Of the organization -Political -Cultural -Social -Economic/Financial -Technical -Structure External Environment Industry Social networks User behaviors and preferences |
Effective communicator Self-starter Collaborative Flexible Open-minded Inquisitive Proactive Risk-taker Confident |
|
Professional
associations and educators must develop comprehensive and cohesive CE programs
enable information professionals to meet the needs of the KM environments in
which they work. Information professionals must evaluate their individual
levels of competence and develop structured plans for their own professional
and personal development.
Information professionals have roles and responsibilities as well as
rights in the KM environments in which they work. The following roles,
responsibilities, and rights do not comprise a definitive list but are examples
suggested by workshop participants:
Roles
To provide the information management component of KM.
To provide information products and services that
support KM initiatives.
To support the information management (IM) components
of the KM processes.
Responsibilities
To ensure that KM is supported by good IM.
To have a clear understanding of our role in the KM
processes and the significance of our contribution to the KM achievements.
To work in collaboration with other KM individuals and
teams, not in competition with them.
To have confidence in our ability and to apply skills
and knowledge assertively.
Rights
To be acknowledged as key players in KM initiatives
and significant contributors to KM achievements.
To have professional LIS and CE programs that meet the
evolving needs of information professionals and their organizations.
I hope that this article will serve as a starting point for thought, and
discussion, action that will lead to an easier and clearer path for information
professionals to follow.
I am happy to receive comments and feedback at sueh@caval.edu.au .
References
Abell, Angela, and Nigel Oxbrow (2001). Competing with Knowledge.
London: Library Association.
St. Clair, Guy (2002). Beyond Degrees: Professional Learning for
Knowledge Services. Munich: K.G. Saur.
Standards Australia (2001). Knowledge Management: A Framework for
Succeeding in the Knowledge Era. HB275-2001. Sydney: Standards Australia.
Standards Australia (2003). Knowledge Management: Interim Australian
Standard AS 5037(int)-2003. Sydney: Standards Australia.
TFPL (2000). KM Skills Map. London: TFPL.
This article was first published in Information Outlook Vol.8 No.1,
January 2004.