SMR

Moving Forward with KM, Specialized Librarianship, and Knowledge Sharing in Africa

Guy St. Clair — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:03:09 +0000

The latest issue of Information Outlook, the publication of the Special Libraries Association (SLA), includes a profile of Nerisa Kamar, who is with UN-HABITAT, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. She works with UN-HABITAT’s Knowledge Management Unit as Assistant Librarian for the Sergio Vieira de Mello United Nations Library at Nairobi . In his introduction to the interview, author Stuart Hales writes: “Books, journals, and other media are the lifeblood of libraries and information centers, and many librarians have their hands full organizing their collections of these resources and making them available to clients when and where they are…
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“You Have to Teach That?”

Guy St. Clair — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:25:25 +0000

A recent conversation with a colleague got me to thinking about our work in KM, knowledge services, and knowledge strategy development. A group of us were in conversation with a lady who is not among our usual group of acquaintances. She’s a professional person, well-established in a career (not in management), and she was curious about our work in the M.S. Information and Knowledge Strategy Program at Columbia University, with which I’m affiliated. So I launched into my usual explanation about the value of knowledge development and knowledge sharing in the larger organization, how there are many companies and…
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Jane Jacobs’ “Knowledge Spillovers”

Guy St. Clair — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:12:49 +0000

We speak a lot about KD/KS. If you’re curious about how knowledge development and knowledge sharing link together in ways we might not usually think about, take a look at Jonah Lehrer’s “GroupThink: The brainstorming myth” in the current (January 30) issue of The New Yorker. While I’m not sure I agree with Lehrer’s basic premise that brainstorming doesn’t work (isn’t brainstorming a pretty basic tool in the KD/KS toolbox?), I do agree with his ideas about the value of chance encounters in knowledge sharing. His examples are terrific, and he makes it clear that when a space/building/environment is…
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Predict the Future? No Way – Just Look Out the Window

Guy St. Clair — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:50:20 +0000

Each new year brings a mass of predictions, and 2012 has been no exception. That’s not so much the case in our field. When it comes to KM, knowledge services, and knowledge strategy development, we’re a little gun-shy about making predictions. I can’t say exactly why, but it’s probably because so many predictions of the past have been found to be, well, a little short of accurate. Why is that? Why do we resist predictions? Is it that folks in the predicting “game” have it all wrong? Perhaps predicting is more about dealing with wishful thinking than with reality.…
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Management and Leadership for Information and Knowledge Professionals

Guy St. Clair — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:14:46 +0000

In the increasingly complex information- and knowledge-focused environment, corporate managers and organizational leaders are struggling with how to address management issues as they apply to information and knowledge work. For knowledge workers, strategic knowledge professionals, and others who wish to pursue advanced study in this field, Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education is offering Management and Leadership in the Knowledge Domain in the Spring Semester, 2012. The course is offered through Columbia’s Postbaccalaureate Studies Program, which provides qualified individuals who have achieved the bachelor’s degree the opportunity to take university courses for graduate school preparation or academic advancement. Beginning…
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