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INTERNET RESOURCES: Knowledge management: A guide to resources on the Internet

by Michael M. Smith

Knowledge Management (KM) is one of many important topics being addressed by companies in today's complex business environment. KM has spawned a new legion of consultants, it has provided a new direction for many software companies, and it has given purpose to many technologies that previously appeared to be only expensive executive toys. However, KM is nothing new. It is a synthesis of many ideas which when brought together create an exciting new paradigm of research. KM is multidisciplinary and draws from communications theory, organizational dynamics, and information organization. KM incorporates the concepts of Senge’s Learning Organization, builds on the foundation of intellectual capital management, and draws from business intelligence practices.

The underlying goal of KM is to use the knowledge embedded in the organization to maximize the effectiveness and competitiveness of the concern. This goal appears much too simple to have spawned such a massive movement. However, the current business environment requires new practices to accomplish this fundamental goal.

There are many excellent resources on the Internet addressing the many aspects of KM. The resources listed below offer a wide variety of information on KM provided by academic/research organizations, information portals, consultants, and governmental and nonprofit organizations.

Academic/research organizations

• Business Process Resource Centre (BPRC). BPRC is located at the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. KM is one of three themes that the center concentrates on, the others being “complexity” and “professional development and business restructuring.” BPRC serves as a “catalyst for and facilitator of high quality research by other players.” There is a wide variety of links to publications, research reports, and best practice reports. Access: http://bprc.warwick.ac.uk.

• Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies (CALT). CALT is a research center associated with INSEAD, one of the world’s toptier business schools with campuses in France and Singapore. CALT’s research projects enjoy corporate partners from all over the globe. This site contains information on the CALT team, its projects, research agenda, publications, and events. The CALT Knowledge Base organizes various materials by topic, with KM being a prominent topic listed on the homepage. This site is a treasure trove of material. Access: http://www.insead.fr/calt/.

• Centre for Knowledge-Based Enterprises (KBE). The KBE center is located at the Queens School of Business at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The center states that its focus is on knowledge “production,” knowledge “transmission,” and knowledge “diffusion.” This Web site provides information on special events hosted by the center and provides electronic access to the many “framework” and working papers produced by the center’s research fellows. Access.- http://business.queensu.ca/kbe/.

• Kentucky Initiative for Knowledge Management (KEKM). KIKM was established in 1988 within the University of Kentucky’s College of Business and Economics. Clyde W. Holsapple, editor of the two-volume “Handbook on Knowledge Management” is the director of the institute. The Web site provides access to an index of research projects and papers, as well as an extensive site dedicated to the book “Decision Support Systems: A Knowledge-Based Approach.” Access: http://www.uky.edu/BusinessEconomics/ dssakba/kikm.htm.

• Knowledge Management Central-International Center for Applied Studies in Information Technology (ICASIT). ICASIT is associated with the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. The KM Central Web site, which was originally developed by the students of an MBA course entitled “Leveraging Intellectual Capital,” calls itself “A Collaborative Knowledge Management Repository.” In addition to promoting the activities of the center, the site provides some excellent resources, including links to significant articles and case studies on KM, a bibliography of books relating to KM, a survey of KM automated tools, and a list of companies working in the KM field. Access: http://www.icasit.org/km/.

• KnowledgeSource. This site features the research center at the University of St. Galien, Switzerland. Research focuses on “knowledgebased businesses, activities, events, and related resources.” The research center is structured to address three areas: competence centers, an academic network, and a practitioner network. The Web site includes information on the various projects on which it is working, its academic and practitioner partners, and the scholarly product of its research. A secondary site, the Net Academy on Knowledge Media, focuses on the field of knowledge communication. Access: http://www.knowledgesource.org and http://www.knowledgemedia.oig.

Information portals

• BRINT Knowledge Management ChanneL This site is the brainchild of Yogesh Malhotra and his Brint Institute. The site is extremely busy, but it is just filled with links to case studies, related research portals, articles from popular business and technical publications, suggested readings with links to Amazon.com, and even related job listings. While the site could surely benefit from an improved information architecture, the wealth of material is impressive. Access: http:// www.brint.com/km/.

• ITtoolbox Knowledge Management. This portal is from ITtoolbox, which “provides a knowledge network and support environment for the IT industry.” This site contains a monitor of KM-related technology stocks, KM news items, a job bank, hosted discussion groups on KM products or general KM topics, press releases from KM companies, and an industiy events calendar. Some of the subtopics covered in this site include communication and collaboration, content management, e-leaming, enterprise portals, and knowledge transfer. Within each subtopic, material is categorized by type, including books, “peer publishing,” software, industry articles, vendor white papers, and occasionally academic papers. Other ITtoolbox portals include Business Intelligence and Data Wearhousing. Access: http://lmowledgemanagement.ittoolbox.com/.

• Kdnuggets. This site focuses on Knowledge Discovery and contains a wealth of information on data mining, Web mining, business analytics, and decision support topics. The site features news, software solutions, company information, employment links, and educational opportunities. The site is managed by Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, who is also the editor and publisher of the “KDnugget Newsletter,” founder of the Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD) conference series, and instrumental in the creation of the ACM SIGKDD. Access: http://kdnuggets.com.

• KM Wiki. This is said to be one of the largest collaborative KM repositories on the Web. Denham Grey, who is a consultant and the CEO of GrayMatter, Inc., maintains the site, which is part Web log and part resources center containing an eclectic collection of articles on any and every aspect of “knowledge ecology.” There is an extensive list of blogs related to KM, news sources, and portals. This truly is a “super” index. Access: http://www.voght.com/cgi-bin/ pywiki?KmWiki.

• KnowledgeBoard. 'Th is is the home of the KM European Forum. This site selves as a virtual community meeting place where various special interest groups (SIG) and “Zones” host discussions. Zones take on a more region-specific focus and often are conducted in the language of the region. The SIGs adopt a more topical focus such as KM Standards, KM Processes, and Communities of Practice. The KnowledgeBoard also contains KM news, a library, employment resources, and blogs. Access: http://www.knowledgeboaid.com.

• Knowledge Management Resource Center. This site is a service of IKM Corporation, and while IKM is a consulting firm working in the KM arena, the Resource Center site is free of any bias. The resources are categorized in 15 areas, including case studies, KM news, KM products and services, conferences and events, university sites related to KM, and professional organizations. Access: http://www.lonresource.com/.

• Storytelling in the 21st Century. Storytelling is an exciting and innovative technique being addressed by the KM community. This site, set up by Stephen Denning, features various researchers who are working with storytelling as a communications tool that can help transform organizations through its unique use in educational and training events. Access: http://www. creatingthe21stcenauy.org.

Consultancies/authors

• Knowledge Connections. This is the site of David Skyrme Associates. Skyrme is the author of two popular KM books: Capitalizing on K› ioii'!edge(200ï) and KnowledgeNetuoitíng(19Q9'). This site contains an extensive collection of the author’s articles and presentations, FAQs and Executive Briefings from the consulting enterprise, and a collection of resources from other sources. The best resource is the Global Leadership Map, which serves as a hyperlinked map of the world identifying a who’s who in KM research. Access: http ■.//www. skyrme. com/.

• Knowledge Research Institute (KRI). KRI is home to Karl M. Wiig, who has authored over 40 articles on KM and has been a “keynote speaker on six continents.” The KRI site contains reports and white papers authored by Wiig and links to affiliated Web sites. Access: http:// www.krii.com.

• Sveiby Knowledge Associates (SKA). This is the home of Karl-Erik Sveiby and his consulting associates. The site contains information on the products and services that SKA offers, as well as an organizational self-assessment, and, most importantly, “The Library.” “The Library” contains many of Sveiby’s writings, as well as contributions from many other authors. Access: http:// www.sveiby.com.

• Verna Allee. Verna Allee’s work in Value Networks is a major contribution to the KM field. This site contains information on ValueNet Works™ certification, colleagues in Verna’s network, material on Value Networks, and other KM topics. Access: http://www.vernaallee.com.

Government and nonprofit sites

• American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC). APQC is an organization dedicated to process and performance improvement, and is focused on benchmarking, knowledge management, metrics, performance measurement, and quality improvement. APQC was founded in 1977 and is a memberbased nonprofit organization. The KM resources available at this site include APQC’s Roadmap to KM Results, resources on KM strategy, communities of practice, and content management. The site contains benchmarking studies, success stories, training opportunities, publications, and other free resources. Access: http:// www.apqc.oig.

• Knowledge Management Consortium International (KMCI). KMCI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997. It provides professional certification for KM practitioners and publishes the Knowledge and Innovation Journal. The site provides links to member organizations, including consulting firms, education concerns, software and services companies, and others. The site provides links to white papers and articles, affiliate Web sites, discussion lists, world KM news, and the KMCI newsletter. Access: www.kmci.org.

• KM.gov. This site is supported by the Federal Chief Information Officer’s Council and covers the activities of the U.S. Government’s KM Working Group. It includes information on its various Special Interest Groups (SIG), including the Communities of Practice, Content Management, KM Education, and Public Policy SIGs. The site contains the documents produced by the Working Group, as well as a collection of linkedresources associated with KM. Access: http:// www.km.gov.

• KmPro. This site is the home of the Knowledge and Innovation Management Professional Society. This is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. The organization serves its professional membership through training, consulting, mentoring, partnerships, networking, and publishing. The organization also supports a KM certification program. Access: http://www. kmpro.oig.

Magazines, journals, and e-zines

• Destination KM. This is the home of Knowledge ManagementmagaAne, which existed in print from 1998 to 2001, after which it became an electronic resource. (An archive contains full-text of articles from the earlier printed volumes.) This site contains both news and feature articles relating to both KM research and industry players. There is a free monthly newsletter, a research center, event calendar, reading list, and reader polls. Also of interest is the partner publication Portals Magazine. Access: http://www.destinationkm. com.

• Journal of Knowledge Management Practice (JKMP). The homepage of this electronic journal states that it is the “rebirth of the JoumalofSystemicKnowledgeManagementwâera new publisher.” Started in 1999 by Peter Smith, editor-in-chief, JKMP brings together both theory, and case studies relating to KM to serve a multidisciplinary audience. The journal’s editorial advisory board draws from the United States and European academicians and industry practitioners. Access: http://tlainc.com/jkmp.htm.

• KMWorld. This is the online counterpart to the KMWorld print publication. KMWorld is well known for its annual KMWorld and Intranets Conference, as well as its industry-focused magazine. The Web site extends the print publication with current news, an archive of past publications, special online resources associated with printed articles, and announcements of streaming audio Webcasts. Access: http:// www.kmworld.com.

• KnowMap: The Knowledge Management, Auditing and Mapping Magazine. This bimonthly Web-based journal from Stanford Solutions Inc. is targeted at KM practitioners. While not a free journal, there are plenty of resources available to a firsttime visitor. The journal contains contributions by many of KM’s leading authors and consultants. Access: http://www.knowmap.com. ■