Knowledge Management Systems Knowledge Management Systems

• Schedule- Discuss Small Pieces, Loosely Joined- Readings Discussion- RSS Reader review- Book Report selection- Dates for Topic Reports

Working Knowledge reviewWorking Knowledge review

• What are your conclusions about this book?• How can you use the ideas in the book?- For classwork- Outside the iSchool

• What are some key points to remember?- Organizational Culture- Information Technology- Measurement

Small Pieces, Loosely JoinedSmall Pieces, Loosely Joined

• How does information technology affect your view of the world?

• How does it shape your relationships with others?

• What implications are there for Knowledge Work?

• Do you agree with Weinberger’s findings & ideas?

• Is it A New World?

A New WorldA New World

• “The Web has sent a jolt through our culture, zapping our economy, our ideas about sharing creative works, and possibly even institutions” (p 8)

• Is it about speed, reach or a coincidence of technology, a lack of rules?

• Is this new world simply a mirror that reflects us as individuals & groups in a new way?

SpaceSpace

• Does the Web expand your reach or is it a different place altogether?- Different norms- Culture more or less apparent?

• Is the main element of this new space the document?- What about the individual?- Are documents a different type of meritocracy?

• “Without links there is no Web” p54- Is the loosely joined is more important than the parts?- Are links too loosely joined or are they part of the tacit

knowledge of the Web (& how people work together)?

• Is it fair to use the metaphor of Space?- Portals as something you pass through, not stay at. P55- Where is your home space(s)?

TimeTime

• Is the primary power of the Web asynchronous communication?

• Another view of time: are we spending aggregately more time to get the same things done?- More? Less? A Different type of Work?- What does “time spent at work” mean now?

• Is real-time interaction better than asynchronous interaction?- Why the popularity of chat rooms, instant messaging &

mobile phones?- More time editing documents than creating them?

• Is technology causing a general quickening of our pace?

Perfection - Loosely JoinedPerfection - Loosely Joined

• How fortuitous are the accidental encounters with people & information?

• Opening a conversation can be easy, and doesn’t have to be perfect.- Tools on the Web aren’t perfect- People still will work with a broken tool in

comparison to not having it.

• Is the Web broken on purpose? P 79- Are people “broken” the same?- “Good enough” and “It works for me”

Perfection & ToolsPerfection & Tools

• How difficult is it to support imperfect work with logical tools (& systems)?

• Do centralized (top-down, logical) power and efficiency go hand in hand? P 80- The larger the system is, the more control required- Does larger always mean more complex?

• How does management work in the extremes of these worlds?- In between?- Reactive, not proactive?

TogethernessTogetherness

• Is the Web what we were waiting on?- A logical extension of political philosophy?

• Democracy?• Aristocracy?• (Intellectual) Capitalism?

- A logical result of technology?

• Metcalfe’s Law - The Network effect p105- Utility grows as the network does- Measurable

• Reed’s Law - More potential groups- Larger numbers of people = more potential (overlapping,

changing) groups- Higher chance there will be a community or subculture for

you

Matter & HopeMatter & Hope

• Do atoms count anymore?- Negroponte and bits- Culture quickened by virtual relationships

• Sharing is easier in an digital network?- Amazon reviews++- Easier to share opinion over fact?- Is this the metadata of the Web?

• Culture is the tacit knowledge at work?- “A culture’s excitement about the Web is directly

proportional to that culture’s alienation from its everyday experience.” p 180

- Implications for organizational (sub)cultures?

Web & Real World?Web & Real World?

• What are the ways that these two worlds combine?

• Are they really different?- Is the means affecting the ends?- Is the medium affecting each’s uses & people’s

preferences for either?

• Is this technology neutral?- An opportunity for communication- An opportunity for re-engineering (both good &

bad)

Questions to ConsiderQuestions to Consider

• What is KM?• What Does KM Provide?

- Personal- Organizational

• Best Approaches for KM?• Is KM a process?• Who Does KM?

• Contexts:- Culture- Environment- Change- Cooperation

RSS Reading and BloggingRSS Reading and Blogging

• Signed up?• Understand how to post?• What to post about• Class work posts

Book Report SelectionsBook Report Selections

• Everyone?• Suggestions?• Let’s hear your choices