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Knowledge Management Section

Scope

The growing interest in KM by the IFLA community was confirmed by the approval of Knowledge Management as IFLA Section in December 2003. The KM Section is a unit in IFLA's Division IV (Bibliographic Control).

With this growing interest in the implementation of Knowledge Management through out the library and information environment, LIS professionals have expressed a need for a deeper understanding of KM's many dimensions and its relevance to their work. The IFLA KM section endeavours to facilitate the application of KM in libraries by developing a program of activities that supports information professionals implement KM in their own organizations.

WORKING DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM)
KM is a process of creating, storing, sharing, applying and re-using organisational knowledge to enable an organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. KM is extending the concept of "knowledge" beyond existing concepts like "memory", "storage", and "information". The term covers such areas as tacit knowledge (expertise), implicit knowledge, explicit knowledge and procedural knowledge.

MISSION
KM encompasses many dimensions of organisational management and the activities of the Section are intended to reflect this by providing a broad platform of integrated activities, through working co-operatively with other IFLA sections and divisions, and appropriate professional organisations.

The objectives of the Section are to:
  • support the implementation of KM culture in libraries and information environments
  • provide an international platform for professional communication and understanding of the significance of KM for librarians and their institutions
  • follow the developments in KM and promote its practical implementation within the IFLA community
To meet the demand of librarians to enhance their skills in an ever changing work environment, the Section seeks to provide theoretical and practical knowledge in areas of KM such as:
  • knowledge sharing
  • improved measures of performance
  • being value-oriented rather than just service-oriented
  • explore the "pros and Cons" of KM implementation
  • utilize interactive communication in information settings to enhance knowledge sharing
  • using IT for converting knowledge into information for use
  • knowledge retention and preservation
ACTIVITIES
  1. The KM Section aims to work collaboratively with other sections to develop sessions and programmes that focus on various aspects of KM and explore areas of mutual interest e.g., education and training; professional development; LIS theories and methodologies; intercultural communication; organisational development; IT and media.
  2. To share "best practice" examples and case studies to make KM applicable to a wide range of information professionals in libraries and information centres, worldwide.
  3. Investigate how professional associations influence and support the implementation of KM in libraries and information environments.
  4. Maintaining a KM Section website as a repository of KM information, KM list-serve for communication and distribution of information relevant to section members and publishing a twice yearly newsletter.

MEMBERSHIP
We welcome everybody to contribute to the work of the KM Section and to support us with creative ideas and suggestions that will develop this subject area within LIS.

All new members need to submit an application form to the FLA Headquarters. Application forms and membership information are available on IFLANET at: http://www.ifla.org/III/members/index.htm or by request from IFLA HQ.

Strategic Plan

2007-2009 | 2006-2007 | 2004-2005

Publications

Newsletter

2008 July: Issue Number 6.
2008 January: Issue Number 5.
2007 July: Issue Number 4.
2007 January: Issue Number 3.
2006 June: Issue Number 2.
2005 December: Issue Number 1.

Annual report

2007

Section Leaflet

English

Knowledge Management Lessons Learned
What Works and What Doesn't

Edited by Michael E. D. Koenig and T. Kanti Srikantaiah

Quebec Conference and Workshop

The KM Section is presenting a pre-conference workshop and two open sessions at the conference in Quebec.

The pre-conference workshop takes place on Friday, 8 August 2008, at the Université Laval in Quebec City. It deals with knowledge sharing strategies and initiatives. The workshop is sponsored by CEDROM-SNi and Dowjones.

The workshop will take place at:
Pavillon La Laurentienne, Room 1334
Université Laval
1030 avenue du Séminaire
Québec (Québec) G1V 0A6
Map: www.ulaval.ca/Al/interne/plan/

Coffee breaks included. Lunch on your own: The premises on the campus like De Koninck (basement), J-A De Sève and others, are serving lunches during the month of August. De Koninck is located in front of La Laurentienne et J-A De Sève is located just beside La Laurentienne as they connect together (please refer to the map for locations of these premises).
— More details

Our theme for the 2008 conference is Knowledge Management: Towards Understanding in the Multi-Cultural World.
We present two open sessions, viz. on Wednesday, August 13, and Thursday, August 14, both 10:45 – 12:45. On Wednesday there will be a keynote by Donna Scheeder (Director, Library Services, Law Library of Congress), followed by 2 x 3 short presentations and facilitated discussion. On Thursday David Gurteen (Knowledge Advisor, Educator, Coach and Leader of the Gurteen Knowledge Community) will present the keynote, followed by a panel discussion.
— More details

Minutes of Meetings

2007: Durban, South Africa
2006: Seoul, Korea
2004: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mailing lists:

The Knowledge Management Discussion List is an open list for librarians and others interested in discussing the issues of the "new" field of knowledge management, particularly with regard to setting up such a function in their libraries or organizations.

The List will also provide an opportunity for discussion about the activities of the IFLA Knowledge Management Discussion Group.

Submissions: KMDG-L@infoserv.inist.fr
Web interface: http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/kmdg-l
Administrator: kmuller@ala.org (Ms Karen Muller)

NOTE: KMDG-L is open for the public

Useful Addresses

Chair/Treasurer:
Judith Field
Senior Lecturer, Library and Information Science
Wayne State University
106 Kresge
Detroit, MI 48202
USA
Tel.: +(1)(313)577-8539
Fax: +(1)(313)577-7563
E-mail: aa4101@wayne.edu

Secretary:
Ágnes Hajdu Barát
Library and Information Science Department
Faculty of Gyula Juhász Teachers' Training College (JGYTF)
University of Szeged
Szilléri sgt. 12
H-6723 Szeged,
Hungary
Tel.: +(36)(62)474-255/15
E-mail: hajdu@jgytf.u-szeged.hu
http://www.jgytf.u-szeged.hu/tanszek/ktud/hajdu2.htm

Information Officer:
Jane Dysart
Partner, Dysart & Jones Associates
47Rose Park Dr.
TORONTO, ONTARIO M4T IR2
Canada
Tel. +(1)(416)4846129
Fax +(1)(416)4847063
E-mail: jane@dysartjones.com

Editor of the Newsletter:
Christel Mahnke
Goethe-Institut Tokyo
Doitsu Bunka Kaikan
7-5-56 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0052
Tel: 0081-(0)3-3584-3201
Tel: 0081-(0)3-3584-1721 (direct)
Fax: 0081-(0)3-3586-3069
E-Mail: mahnke@tokyo.goethe.org
Website: www.goethe.de/tokyo

Webmaster:
Theo Bothma
Dept. of Information Science
University of Pretoria
0002 Pretoria
South Africa
Tel.: +(27)(12)420-2961
Fax: +(27)(12)362-5181
E-mail: tbothma@up.ac.za
http://web.up.ac.za/default.asp?ipkCategoryID=3706

Mailing List Administrator:
Karen Muller, MLS
Librarian and Knowledge Management Specialist
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611 USA
Toll free: +(1)(800)545-2433 x5031
Direct: +(1)(312)280-5031
Fax: +(1)(312)-280-3255
E-mail: kmuller@ala.org
http://www.ala.org/library