Content management refers to the management of valuable content throughout the useful lifespan of the content. Content lifespan will typically begin with content creation, handle multiple changes and updates, merging, summarization, and other repackaging, and will typically end with archiving. Metadata (information about the content) is used to better manage content throughout its useful lifespan. Metadata includes such information as source/ author, keywords to describe content, date created, date changed, quality, best purposes, annotations by those who have made use of it, and an expiry or “best before” date where applicable. It is also useful to include attributes such as storage medium, location and whether or not it exists in a number of alternative forms (e.g. different languages). XML is increasing being used to tag knowledge content, and taxonomies serve to better organize and classify content for easier future retrieval and use.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) gives you the ability to structure and add relevance to chunks of information (that is why many CM solutions use XML), and in theory to exchange data more easily between applications (e.g. with your suppliers, customers, and partners). However, you may all use the same words (tags), but if each of you defines and applies them differently, then we remain in the land of Babel. Common agreed schemas are essential. Keep tags with developments on the schemas and metadata standards in your field.
Taxonomies are hierarchical information trees for classifying information, analogous to the library subject catalog. They can help overcome differences of language usage in different part of an organization and even clarify the use of different languages. Traditionally, taxonomy development is manually intensive in that it is created and maintained by people. The growing problem of information overload means that taxonomies are receiving significant attention. But how do you cope with the evolution of terms whose meanings seem to change from one year to the next? Automatic (or semiautomatic) classification of information objects uses software such as natural language analyzers, text summarizers, and other technology to understand some of the meaning- the concepts- behind blocks of text, and to tag and index it appropriately to aid subsequent retrieval. Automated classifiers find patterns in textual content, produce categories, and classify the content using these categories. Personal capital is a term coined to explain a divergence from the traditional notion of capital, which is an asset “owned” by an organization. In fact, the future of KM will blur the boundaries between the individual, the group or community, and the organization. KM will become a pervasive part of how we conduct our everyday business lives. Personalized KM (PKM) will gain increasing importance given the ever-increasing momentum of information overload with which we must deal. In other words, some of the key principles, best practices, and business processes of KM that have to date been focused at the organizational level will filter down to be used by individuals managing their own personal capital.
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PKM and traditional knowledge management differ depending on whether an organizational or personal perspective is adopted. Tools for personal information management are impressive and, if you think about e-mail and portals, are already widely used. Newer tools such as blogs, news aggregators and instant messaging, represent a new toolset for PKM.
Personal portals- which were once known as “enterprise” portals- are now focused n needs of the individual- all a person’s information and application needs harmoniously brought together into a preferred arrangement on the desktop. This is mass customization in front of your eyes. Again, the aims are laudable, but reality and theory are often miles apart. PKM brings many of the key principles of KM to bear on the personal productivity and specific work requirements of a given knowledge worker. Definitions of PKM revolve around a set of core issues: managing and supporting personal knowledge and information so that it is accessible, meaningful, and valuable to the individual; maintaining networks, contacts, and communities; making life easier and more enjoyable; and exploiting personal capital (Higgison, 2004). On an information management level, PKM involves filtering and making sense of information and organization paper and digital archives-mails, and bookmark collections.
5.3.2. Knowledge sharing and dissemination tools
Although there is a distinction between communication technologies (such as telephone and e-mail) and collaboration technologies (such as workflow management), it is very difficult to draw a line between the two. Communication and collaboration are invariably intertwined, and it is quite difficult to establish where one ends and the other begins. Both types of tools have been grouped under the category of groupware or collaboration tools. Although all organizational members will make use of communication and collaboration, including project teams and work units, communities of practice will be particularly active in making use of many, if not all, of the communication and collaboration technologies described in this section.
(a) Groupware and Collaboration Tools
Groupware represents a class of software that helps groups of colleagues (workgroups) attached to a communication network (e.g. Local Area Networks [LANs]) to organize their activities. Typically, groupware supports the following operations:
• Scheduling meetings and allocating resources • E-mail
• Password protection for documents • Telephone utilities
• Electronic newsletters • File distribution