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1. Introduction

The application of Dublin Core (DC) metadata for information management purposes has been taking place ever since the 15 simple DC elements were developed. Its application for industry specific purposes such as education or government service identification has also been widely adopted, though not without challenges along the way.

Knowledge Management (KM) presents an interesting set of challenges for those interested in utilising DC metadata because it can be perceived as a number of different things – as an academic discourse, an organisational intervention, a set of activities that a community of practice might undertake to ensure optimum knowledge flows, or even what an individual might do to maximize the reuse and retrievability of their own knowledge. To underscore this challenge, it is a very interesting exercise just to find a broadly accepted definition of KM that might be both flexible and comprehensive enough to deal with all these scenarios.

Although KM first emerged in the 1980s it only began to seriously establish in the mid 1990s when the impact of the Web was just beginning to be felt upon the business world. As such, its early character was biased toward business process improvement from a managerial perspective.

The influence of networks upon the way KM has been understood or implemented is something that has only emerged in later discourse (Beerli, et al., 2003; Back, et al., 2006). It has been argued that the fundamental KM problem is all about changing organizational ‘silos’ of activity (manifest in organizational divisions, hierarchical management structures, projects, work teams, documents, and individual workspaces) so that knowledge flows more readily, is shared and leveraged for maximum benefit, and is not pigeonholed nor rendered inaccessible through poor information management practices (Xu and Quaddus, 2005: 382).

Such a problem will likely resonate for most people who are employed by organizations. However, while this ‘silo’ problem is clearly evident within hierarchically structured organizations it is also manifest within networks, and it is commonplace for potentially synergistic communities of practice to actually exist more as disconnected ‘islands’. The problem is in fact a deeper one, and is to do with the nature of knowledge and organization—hierarchies and networks are the two most effective forms of organisation that human beings have yet created; both have their place, but it will always be the situational context that will suggest the most effective way to act.

Another challenge concerning KM for the DCMI community is that it represents a domain that is arguably more expansive than all other communities currently developing application profiles. Thus, a definition of Knowledge Management that might be useful for the DCMI KM community to consider is presented here:

Knowledge Management (KM) finds expression as both an organisational intervention aimed at delivering better efficiencies in the handling of knowledge, and an academic discourse that develops theoretical frameworks and practical techniques for managing the entire knowledge lifecycle from a variety of perspectives: individual, community, and organisational. It can, though doesn’t need to, involve a multiplicity of considerations and tasks and is always influenced by context.

1.1. DCMI KM Community

The DCMI Knowledge Management Community was established in mid 2007 as “a forum for individuals and organisations with an interest in the application and use of the Dublin Core standard in knowledge management.” (DCMI, 2007) To some extent this new community provides continuity with issues addressed by the DCMI Global Corporate Circle, which was deactivated in 2007. To date, while there is clearly an interest in this area with over 120 subscribers to the email listserv there is little serious documented discourse. This paper therefore aims to make a contribution by presenting some theoretical framework for consideration, providing examples of how DC metadata is being effectively applied in some Knowledge Management (KM) contexts, and pointing to current limitations of DC in such contexts.

1.2. Overview

The following discussion deals with topics on modelling and organising knowledge from a theoretical perspective. A number of scenarios are then presented, indicating how DC metadata has been effectively utilised for KM purposes. A sense-making abstraction is presented as a reference model for identifying prominent facets or pathways of knowledge that will typically need to be considered in KM contexts. This model aims to validate current applications while also pointing to potential novel applications, thereby indicating any limitations with currently available schemas that may need to be overcome.

2. Representing, Modelling, and Managing Knowledge

For knowledge to be organised and managed it is necessary to first establish the scope of such an undertaking. This task has been approached by various practitioners and communities of practice in a broad variety of ways. The proceeding discussion is an attempt to summarise some of the more prominent approaches that have relevance for the application of DC metadata.

The field of Computer Science provides at least two key (mutually informing) approaches – through formal knowledge representation languages such as Prolog, the Resource Description Framework (RDF), the Web Ontology Language (OWL), and Attempto Controlled English (ACE); or, through conceptual classification into three categories: declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge. Declarative knowledge is expressed by explicit statements of the kind ‘it is known that’ and typically involves facts or ‘objective’ information; procedural knowledge is typically expressed by statements that represent ‘know-how’; and, conditional knowledge is represented by statements that represent ‘knowing-if’ and/or ‘knowing-why’ (Murphy, 2008).

Through recent years of work on developing a robust ‘abstract model’ that can inform future extensibility and application of DC metadata, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is now strongly aligned with the knowledge representation capabilities of RDF (Powell, et al., 2007). It is noteworthy that this work has taken both considerable effort and time and has required ongoing explication through other documents such as the Singapore Framework (Nilsson, et al., 2008). This work has also demonstrated that the goal of defining and using shared semantics is not sufficient for sustainable knowledge sharing in Web environments—for this to occur, semantics must be associated with statements that make clear certain relationships, thereby establishing context through syntax and structural relations. Another approach is to situate knowledge within its relationship to data, information, and wisdom as a value hierarchy and is often depicted as a pyramid .

However, just as the Internet has rendered geographical boundaries and legal jurisdictions as debatable constructs when it comes to information flows, the boundaries that separate data, information, and knowledge can be very fuzzy and depend upon context. Thus, in the context of the Internet, Figure 1 becomes a very poor representation for the simple reason that data, information, and knowledge become intermeshed. In this environment value can be created through rendering information and knowledge as data and many datasets can either comprise or be extracted from a knowledge-base. In short, this inverts the value-chain depicted by the pyramid (Mason, et al., 2003). Capturing explicit knowledge and organising it as structured information for sharing and reuse is thus one of the powerful features and potentials of the Web. This same recursive property can also be seen with metadata. While it is pragmatic that simple models identify ‘digital assets’ or content as one entity and ‘metadata’ as another (that describes the content) such models can mask deeper complexity. For example, in the case of a repository designed to broker resource discovery, the assets it gathers into a collection might only be metadata records but collectively they represent useful content – thus, ‘one person’s metadata may be another’s content’; ultimately, it is the context that determines this (Mason, 2004).

But there is another reason why Figure 1 is not adequate for the Internet and that has to do with the important role that metadata has in the organisation, structuring, presentation, and sharing of content and services—metadata being defined as data associated with or descriptive of other data, information, knowledge, or services. As such, metadata can be expressed in many forms— examples include the manifest file associated with a ‘learning object’, XML tags, user-defined tags, or explicit information such as authorship or publication date of a piece of content. A more accurate representation would therefore be something like what is depicted in Figure 2.

Yet another approach, from the field of Knowledge Management, was inspired by Polanyi (1966), who distinguished between explicit and tacit knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) developed this concept further and proposed a dynamic model that represents the management of (organisational) knowledge as interactions of tacit and explicit knowledge throughout four on going processes involving socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization known as the “SECI model”. As both an academic discipline and an organisational intervention the field of KM has developed considerably in the past decade and is replete with many more detailed models that both draw upon and challenge this foundational work (Snowden, 2002; Earl, 2001; Firestone and McElroy, 2002; Rao, 2005; Wierzbicki, 2006). Thus, while the core concepts of the SECI model continue to be recognised as important by KM practitioners the world over, there is an underlying shift in paradigm from a principle of reduction toward a principle of emergence that is important to highlight (Wierzbicki, 2006:1-13). The work by Snowden (2002, 2005) on complexity, story-telling, and sense-making is representative of this shift. Likewise, Seufert, Back, and von Krogh underscore the importance of networks for KM to develop:

Concerning the integration of networking and knowledge management, we believe two aspects to be crucial. First, knowledge management should comprise a holistic view of knowledge, meaning the integration of explicit and tacit knowledge. Furthermore, knowledge management should take a holistic view on where and how knowledge is being created and transferred … The integration of networking into knowledge management yields great benefits. The openness and richness of networks … foster a fertile environment for the creation of entirely new knowledge.

The influence of networks and networking upon KM suggests then that there is scope for developing updated models of knowledge. This is particularly so, given that hierarchies have historically been the dominant mode of organisational structure; however, while harnessing the flows of knowledge shared within networks would appear to be a natural domain for KM the theory and practice of doing so is not so straightforward. This is borne out in a blog post by Sims (2008) in which an analysis of 53 Knowledge Management definitions is presented:

General observation: this again illustrates the definition diversity. It is not like these are 53 definitions with slightly different word choice. These are substantially different. There are only five attributes that are seen in 30% or more of the definitions: KM is a process, it is targeted at the organization (company), it deals with knowledge, sharing is part of the story, and the definition includes a “why”. (Sims, 2008) Thus, it can be seen that the discourse on KM has developed considerably in the past 15 years. In an attempt at summing up the dimensions of ‘emergence’ and ‘complexity’ while not trivializing them Snowden advocates a characterization of the “paradoxical” nature of knowledge “as both a thing and a flow” (Snowden, 2002). As such, an adequate model of knowledge needs to convey dynamism and the tasks associated with organising knowledge involve far more than the description and classification of information resources—it involves both the tacit and explicit dimensions of knowledge. Obviously, metadata can only successfully be applied to explicit knowledge—so, is there another approach that can approximate a holistic view of managing knowledge? Could such a model point to new applications for metadata?

2.1. A Faceted Model

While all the preceding approaches can be shown to be useful a faceted model is presented as a means of identifying the critical pathways of knowledge in KM contexts (see Figure 3). This model is based upon earlier work in Norris, et al., (2003) and further refined in Mason (2007). This model represents an attempt to summarise the key pathways for consideration while an individual is engaged in learning, thinking, or knowing. It has been developed as a device that might assist in providing a ‘shorthand’ reference of considerations when approaching the development of an e-learning activity or a KM task. The model represents ‘primitive’ questions associated with query generation or proposition development (Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, and If). These seven knowledge facets are situated within three key influences: content, community, and context following Seely Brown (1999. p. ix).

Out of these seven primitives Who, What, When, and Where can be seen to function primarily as the primitives of organised information retrieval and resource discovery – particularly within the Internet. This can easily be validated by investigating the essential characteristics of metadata schemas used to describe information resources such as proposed by the DCMI Kernel Community (Kunze, 2001; Mason and Galatis, 2007). It is not yet clear to what extent the Why, How, and If primitives function as catalysts in the development of understanding but they can be seen as important questions in many activities that involve the creation, sharing, and management of knowledge. Of the latter three primitives, How and If can be seen to typically generate procedural or rule-based knowledge. Why, however, presents a significant challenge to deeper modelling, primarily because of its breadth of usage. Unlike the descriptive primitives (Who, What, When, Where, and to some extent, How), Why gives emphasis to the explanative dimension in which facts can be subject to greater subjective perspective. In teaching contexts Why is used as a question to help learners adopt a critical, reflective approach to the content they must interact with. In KM contexts, understanding why a certain communication protocol is important or why certain procedures need to be followed can make all the difference to how these things are operationalised. Knowing-why can also help build “strategic insight” (USDA FS, 2005:6).

There are a number of assumptions that underpin this model, not least of which is the choice of utilising a circular graphic—the assumption being that the relationships between all entities within it are closely interdependent. It is therefore instructive to consider recent literature focused on identifying transitions in knowledge creation that most models are presented as spirals (Wierzbicki and Nakamori, 2006). It is therefore acknowledged that this model could be improved and may need to be tested rigorously and modified.

3. Organising Information

Information can be organised in a multiplicity of ways—in library and enterprise settings the default method is through the application of hierarchical structure, based upon authoritative classifications and taxonomies (such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings or Dewey Decimal Codes); in Web environments, the power of association through hyperlinks is exploited; and, in a seemingly chaotic pile of papers on an office desk. In each case, structure and relation combine as the key organising principles. Focusing on semantics, as the DCMI community and Semantic Web community have done since first being established, also represents a powerful way to organise and discover information.

The simple (but extensible) semantics of the Dublin Core represent an elegant simplification of traditional library cataloguing semantics for use in Web environments. Following this achievement, it is arguable that the even simpler semantics proposed by the DCMI Kernel Community represent an important future key to innovative approaches to metadata interoperability (Kunze, 2001). The application of DC metadata to describe and enrich information resources has proven to be an effective method of managing information for later retrieval and reuse. In fact, metadata can be seen as a key component in managing information resources, But the question arises: to what extent can it be used in organising knowledge?

4. Organising Knowledge

For as long as knowledge has been preserved it has also been organized—whether in the context of non-literate societies such as Indigenous Australians stewarding knowledge through story and song; in the context of the I Ching, the first Chinese book ever written and focused on 64 core life scenarios to navigate; or, in the classification of newly identified plant species according to authoritative taxonomies.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) can be seen as a key contemporary technology that enables knowledge to be organised through rich associative links. Through combining hypertext with Internet transmission protocols HTML has enabled the Web to become a vast networking platform for connecting information and communication resources. While human societies have always benefited from networking, the scale and reach of networks now available is fundamentally a new development in human history and in the organisation of its disparate knowledge sources. Of course, most of the developed world now takes all this for granted. With recent developments in Semantic Web technologies and Web 2.0 applications there now exists further capacity for organising and sharing knowledge; however, the flipside of this story is that innovation is so extensive there is also a chaotic dimension to the proliferation of knowledge and networks. As soon as a new way of organising or combining knowledge becomes available new ‘islands’ or ‘silos’ of activity emerge and ‘networks’ soon become ‘clubs’ or ‘tribes’ that rely on conventions and protocols to participate.

‘Emergence’ is a concept that describes a scientific paradigm for our times in more meaningful ways than a scientific reductionist paradigm does (Wierzbicki and Nakamori, 2006)—but dealing with the pragmatics of this can be challenging to say the least! It is therefore arguable that in the same way that Jean-Paul Sartre made the famous comment that “man is condemned to be free” that no matter what knowledge we create we are condemned to make new sense of it in new contexts (Sartre, 1966). Just because knowledge may reside within an ‘open architecture’ platform doesn’t render it as operational, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee that it will flow. Because of the many methods of assigning order to otherwise unstructured information the Knowledge Organization System (KOS) is used to describe such methods. Examples include classification schemes, thesauri, taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and subject headings. This term has been used as the basis for a relatively new Web technology, known as the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS), which is aimed at providing a common data model for

the exchange of data between the kind of KOS referred to above (Miles and Bechhofer, 2008).

All these developments in technologies underscore that the application of metadata in any KM context represents just one component of a broader concern. In other words, metadata alone does not provide a complete solution for KM. Moreover, despite the use of the word ‘knowledge’ in technologies such as SKOS, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that such systems only represent a subset of knowledge. Furthermore, as Ray argues, Data models are insufficient to enable widespread system interoperability, and organizations need to develop an ontology to explain how different data elements interact. Only when this context is rendered in a computational form can external systems make sense of a data model. (Ray, 2009 quoted by Jackson, 2009).

4.1. Other Requirements

Because Knowledge Management is concerned with maximizing the potential application for both tacit and explicit knowledge, certain practical limits govern the application of DC metadata. In some KM contexts the ‘reusability’ of information or knowledge may be limited to basic metadata; however, in some corporate settings other metrics will apply. For example, the ‘trustworthiness’ or ‘reliability’ of the content or its source may depend on local or tacit knowledge about its origins; quality assessment will have industry-specific conventions; the ability to integrate diverse vocabularies in supporting IT infrastructure; the degree to which performance-support can be provided; how to prepare knowledge for transfer to contexts as yet not identified; what business analytics can be discerned; and, then there are security and privacy concerns. All these are issues for KM.

Many KM practitioners also place emphasis upon story as a means to communicate important lessons from the field. In terms of the model discussed in Figure 3, aspects of story align well with the facet know-why. The challenge becomes: how to use a DC approach in developing an appropriate schema to capture this?

5. Practical Perspectives

The following cameos are presented to indicate the diversity of implementation contexts in which Dublin Core metadata is currently used for KM purposes.

5.1. Ohio State University Knowledge Bank

The Ohio State University Knowledge Bank (OSUKB) represents an exemplar in University institutional repositories in the way it integrates diverse digital assets, is well-positioned to interoperate (or federate) with other ‘open access’ repositories, and the project “places its institutional repository in the larger context of a multifaceted knowledge management program” (Branin, 2004). The OSUKB also represents an example of the evolutionary path that academic libraries have navigated in recent years from “collection development to collection management to knowledge management” (Branin et al., 2007). Apart from the value of knowledge sharing with peers, the core value proposition presented to students in order to enlist their participation in using the Knowledge Bank is as a safe, high quality, managed repository in which to store and preserve outputs of their work for later use and or discoverability by others (OSU, 2009). This is clearly an important component of an individual student’s KM requirements. It also serves the purposes of the institution in that it represents an aggregation of intellectual outputs that will expand over time.

The OSUKB is an implementation of DSpace software and its Metadata Application Profile is based upon qualified Dublin Core (OSU, 2008). Specific additional requirements, such as managing Intellectual Property Rights, are handled via Creative Commons licensing. The OSUKB approach to KM represents a typical repository approach found throughout higher education settings worldwide. As such, the KM infrastructure that is implemented places emphasis on the management of scholarly outputs or content as the primary object for knowledge management. Despite acknowledging the broader KM agenda beyond the storage and retrieval of content to involve the “social life of information,” it is clear that there is a long way to go for other aspects of KM to be implemented as services that enhance the OSUKB—if Figure 3 is considered.

5.2. The Corporate Sector

While there is plenty of evidence that the corporate sector uses metadata to manage its assets, there still seems to be selective adoption of DC metadata. In fact, a recent book published with the title ‘Business Metadata’ (Inmon, et al., 2008), does not even contain one passing reference to DC metadata! This underscores the findings in a 2005 report developed for the DCMI Corporate Circle:

Except where there is a business or regulatory requirement to share information, the private sector has little interest in interoperability with repositories outside their organisation. Most applications that seek to gather metadata into databases so that document-like content can be found and re-used when needed, occur behind the firewall.

… [while there is] wide usage of Dublin Core in this context … there is an unwillingness and inability to share the details of that experience widely. (Busch, et al., 2005) This suggests that while some metadata infrastructure is being put in place to accommodate internal organisational information management requirements there is a long way to go before a holistic approach to KM metadata requirements in the corporate sector is achieved.

5.3. Semantic Web

With the development of the DCMI Abstract Model there is now exists better theoretical alignment with capabilities of RDF and hence the Semantic Web. The implications for KM of this are neatly summed up by Lamont (2007):

The Semantic Web is relevant to knowledge management because it has the potential to dramatically accelerate the speed with which information can be synthesized, by automating its aggregation and analysis. Information on the Web now is typically presented in HTML format, and while very beneficial in some respects, the format offers neither structure nor metadata that is useful for effective management. Cho (2009) echoes this view by arguing the role that Dublin Core has played in “knowledge management activity representation” is a key factor to future success of the Semantic Web. However, identifying significant Semantic Web implementations in KM contexts has not as yet been fruitful.

source : www.dublincore.org/groups/km/

Hal yang dapat di pelajari dari kasus diatas adalah bahwa penerapan knowledge management dalam dublin core metadata dapat memperbaiki proses bisnis dan perspektif manajerial dalam perusahaan diatas . selain itu , Knowledge Management (KM) juga menyajikan serangkaian tantangan yang menarik bagi mereka yang tertarik dalam memanfaatkan metadata DC karena dapat dianggap sebagai beberapa hal yang berbeda – sebagai wacana akademik, intervensi organisasi, satu set aktivitas bahwa komunitas praktek mungkin melakukan untuk memastikan arus pengetahuan yang optimal, atau bahkan apa yang individu mungkin lakukan untuk memaksimalkan penggunaan kembali dan retrievability pengetahuan mereka sendiri. serta  KM dapat domain yang memiliki lingkup yang lebih luas dari masyarakat lain yang sedang mengembangkan profil aplikasi untuk metadata DC dalam rangka mengakomodasi metadata eksplanatif.

Case Study

EDS was founded in 1962. Its main business is to provide service in Information Technology area. As a global company, present in 60 countries, it has approximately 138,000 employees and more than 35,000 business and government clients around the world. The company was established in Brazil in 1985. Nowadays, the Brazilian operation has approximately 5,100 employees spread over more than 12 states, including big markets as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. EDS is considered a leader in Information Systems market in Brazil in a variety of areas such as telecommunication, power, health insurance, finance, government, etc (Http_1).

Customers
EDS helps its clients to manage their business and technological complexities. These are the main reasons why the company is always searching for better technology existents in the world market.

Training & Development

EDS’s employees are encouraged to further their careers through continued workplace learning and training courses. They are also stimulated to grow at their own pace – exploring new areas or enhancing the knowledge they already have. To contribute to this practice, the company created the EDS University. The main objective of it is to give the employees a chance to learn new skills or to improve current ones.

EDS University offers thousands of courses and has as its main advantages: the web- based training, the global 24/7 access to companywide learning centers , more than 7,000 courses, collaborative learning environments with e-mail, virtual communities and bulletin boards, a curriculum relevant to EDS business needs and to improving the skill set, course material from colleges, universities and best-practice companies and integrated Knowledge
Management systems including an online catalog, scheduling, registration, training delivery and reporting. (Http_2).

EDS culture

As part of EDS culture, the employees never stop learning. The IT market has been in constant change and to be the number one in this market it is necessary to create a work environment where nobody ever stops learning (Http_3). All employees are free to express their ideas. This can be verified in the company policies through: (Http_3):

1. The Open Door – Every manager, executive and leader pledges to listen to employees. When someone has an idea, the managers will listen to it. If they have a problem, their leaders help to resolve it.
2. The Town Hall – Each quarter, all areas of EDS get together for a town hall meeting to discuss work, life and service issues. Town halls are run by people that are willing to contribute with their thoughts to the company.
3. The Straight Talk – EDS leaders around the globe answer some of the toughest team questions through the main communication channels such as email, newsletter and netmeeting.

Global Competitiveness

EDS has a global structure that allows it to offer its customers competitive prices. This is possible due to existence of its global solutions centers, placed in India, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, The Czech Republic and Mexico. Beyond the price factor, other benefits are distinguished, such as:

1. Production support for customers in different time zones 24-hour per day.
2. Fast cycle of development which contributes to the conclusion of the projects ahead of the competitors.
3. Being a global company allows EDS has qualified employees for different types of business in different parts of the world (Http_3).

To guarantee the functioning of the global solutions centers, the quality level must be kept consistent. To accomplish this, EDS adopted norms of standardization of development processes and maintenance of software dictated by international organisms, such as the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) (Http_4).

Knowledge Management Models

In this section, how EDS fits under the three models will be discussed: the model of creation of the knowledge, the model of intellectual capital and the conceptual model of knowledge management.

EDS is concerned with the three intellectual capitals in the company (Stewart, 1998), which are: customer capital, human capital and organizational capital.
The customer capital has great value for the organization, and for this reason the company focuses on providing excellent services. The service levels offered by EDS are measured through an in-house tool based on the web developed. Thus, it is possible to get an instantaneous image of the customer’s status, which is an essential element in helping the company be a leader in the IT field (Http_3). Being a company that provides services in the IT area, makes EDS use technological innovations to provide the best service for the customers. Therefore, the structural capital is vital for maintaining the continuity of the business. Never stopping learning and having liberty of speech, part of the company’s culture, are examples of the importance of human capital for EDS. In one of the President’s letters (Http_5) this importance was highlighted – see extract of letter below.
“Our people are the real value behind every solution … every client value proposition. Technology can be bought. Strategies can be copied. The only sustainable competitive advantage a company has is its people. Today, our talent pool is richer, our morale higher and our people more energized. ” (Http_5).

Under Nonaka and Takeuchi’s Optics

In EDS the conversion of the tacit knowledge (ability, talent, form of work and individual wisdom) and explicit knowledge (materialized in the form of notations, memorandum, documents), as defined by Nonaka and Takeuchi (Nonaka, 1995) in the theory of the knowledge creation, is part of day-by-day activities. Socialization, externalization, combination and internalization are stimulated through the goals, the creativity stimulation, the incentive of projects documentation and the programs of incentive of innovation. In the company, the creativity is transforms into ideas and the ideas into strategies,
solutions and services which have real impact in the company’s business. The process is a never-ending spiral of tacit and explicit knowledge through the four models of knowledge conversion, i.e., socialization (from tacit to tacit), externalization (from tacit to explicit), combination (from explicit to explicit), and internalization (from explicit to tacit) (Http_6).
Through Figure 1 is possible to visualize the organizational knowledge creation at EDS.

Under Terra’s Optics

This model has seven dimensions of practical management composed by strategic vision and upper management, organizational culture, organizational structure, human resources policies, information technology, mensuration of results and learning from the external environment.
With the objective of identifying EDS’s current situation, a questionnaire was prepared. This questionnaire was based on the seven dimensions developed by Terra in his doctored thesis (Terra, 2000).
There are two main factors which contributed to the choice of this questionnaire: it was carried out in more than 400 Brazilian companies and the prior results could be used as benchmarking.

Analysis of Results

Twenty questionnaires were answered which represents a 100% response from the employees. Through the answers were identified important points that need to be developed. The arithmetic mean gotten by question varied between 1.9 and 4.65. Figure 2 presents in the form of columns, the averages of the results and, in the form of rows, the averages obtained for each group of company. As defined by Terra, Group 1 corresponds to the companies who learn, which means companies whose management practices are closely identified with effective Knowledge Management. Group 2 corresponds to the traditional companies whose management practices are moderately identified with effective Knowledge Management. Group 3 refers small companies whose management practices are poorly identified with effective management of knowledge (Terra, 2000).

Through figure 2, it is possible to conclude that EDS presents a bigger degree of agreement with group 2 – traditional companies. However, it is important to highlight that the topics Information System and Mensuration of Results are part of group 1. But, in the other hand, Structure Organizational is part of group 3. Three questions were answered in the System of Information topic. Analyzing them through figure 3 we can observe that all questions had practically the same weight on the average.
EDS prizes itself on communication efficiency, information sharing and incentive of system documentation which have been all well-evaluated in accordance with the replies gotten through the questionnaire.

The company has a perceived concern in evaluating the projects, looking to identify the sources of acquisition, generation and diffusion of the knowledge that they are excellent. The result of this constant work is showed in figure 4.

The worst evaluation occurred in the question related to the organizational structure, which can be compared with the group of small companies, who are less associated with effective management of knowledge. In figure 5, the only question that possesses weight bigger than the average is the one related to small reorganizations.

The questionnaire was composed of 41 questions, all of them related to the seven dimensions. Figure 6 shows the comparison of the averages per question with the results obtained for Terra (Terra, 2000). Through this figure, it can be observed that two average questions with very low average rates and two high average rates in comparison with groups 1, 2 and 3.

The two questions that presented the smallest degree of agreement between the respondents are:

1. The decisions are taken at the lowest possible level. The power to decide process is agile; the bureaucracy is minimal. This question is part of the organizational structure dimension and has got the lowest arithmetic mean:1.95.
2. There is profits-share participation, involving most of the employees. This question is part of Human Resources policies dimension and got the second lowest arithmetic mean: 2.

The two questions that presented high degree of agreement between the respondents are:

1. It has a low turnover in the company in comparison to other companies in the same sector. This question is part of Human resources policy’s dimension and got the highest arithmetic mean: 4.65.
2. It has great disciplines, efficiency and incentive for the documentation of the existing knowledge and know-how in the company. This question is part of Information Systems dimension and got the second high arithmetic mean: 4.25.

It is possible to conclude from the results that the fluidity of information flow in the company is facilitated by the sharing of knowledge and the low turnover. But, on the other hand, the employees still feel that factors such as bureaucracy and hierarchy have to be better worked. Those four questions are located in the graph presented in figure 7.

Suggestions

This paper will present some ideas to improve the flow of knowledge in EDS and to contribute to the development of an effective Knowledge Management. These ideas were derived from results presented previously in the analysis of the results section, together with the revision of literature. EDS needs to focus on communication -letting the employees know what the macro- strategy of the company is. In accordance with Terra (Terra, 2000), the strategies must be defined and displayed in a clear form for the agreement of all the employees. A suggestion to aid this weak point would be to use the Town Hall, which is a seminary that happens every three months and has as its objective to share existing ideas in the companies, to clarify the
objectives and to show the strategies traced from higher management.

EDS needs to create a system of rewards that involves incentives to the individual and collective development. One recent incentive that has been used for the companies is payment for abilities. This system involves much more than the position or job description of the work because involves the skills of the employee and could easily be used by EDS. Finally, another factor that needs to be improved is partnerships with universities and research institutes. This resource had a very small agreement among the respondents of the research. It is important to clarify that this is not only a problem for EDS because in Brazil only a small group of companies does this kind of partnership. In foreign companies this kind of partnerships is a common process (Terra, 2000). However, EDS should make alliances with the research institutes and university to develop innovative processes and then increase the knowledge exchange. Associated with these recommendations, figure 8 presents the proposal of this work for the methodology of development of a Knowledge Management project.

This methodology presents three stages: planning, analysis and action. In the stage of planning the verification of the existing knowledge in the organization is executed, using the models of Nonaka and Takeuchi (Nonaka, 1995), Stewart (Stewart, 1998) and Terra (Terra, 2000). It also executes the mapping of the existing knowledge to identify the imperfections and necessities based on the models. The stage of analysis includes the definition of the actions to be taken and creation of goals for the project. The last stage, which is the action, consists of taking action and making the employees aware of the importance of the project.

source : www.iamot.org/conference/index.php/ocs/4/paper/view/469/20

Hal yang dapat di pelajari dari kasus di atas adalah EDS berusaha melatih karyawannya melalui beberapa macam pelatihan dan kursus yang di sediakan oleh EDS , untuk memberikan kesempatan kepada karywan mereka untuk terus berinovasi dan meningkatkan pengetahuan yg mereka miliki sebagai kesempatan untuk mempelajari keterampilan baru . selain itu , berusaha untuk meningkatkan persaingan secara global di bidang IT yang merupakan fokus utama EDS dalam melatih karyawannya.

1. Introduction

In the present information and knowledge era, knowledge has become a key resource. Faced with competition and increasingly dynamic environments, organisations are beginning to realise that there is a vast and largely untapped asset diffused around in the organisation – knowledge (Gupta, Iyer & Aronson, 2000).

This realisation not only occurs in business organisations but also in non-profit organisations such as academic libraries. The conventional function of academic libraries is to collect, process, disseminate, store and utilise information to provide service to the university community. However, the environment in which academic libraries operate today is changing. Academic libraries are part of the university and its organisational culture. Whatever affects universities also affects academic libraries. The role of academic libraries is changing to provide the competitive advantage for the parent university – a factor that is crucial to both staff and students (Foo et al., 2002).

Knowledge management is a viable means in which academic libraries could improve their services in the knowledge economy. This can be achieved through creating an organisational culture of sharing knowledge and expertise within the library. However, organisations face innumerable challenges in nurturing and managing knowledge. The challenges occur because only a part of knowledge is internalised by the organisation, the other is internalised by individuals (Bhatt, 2002). Organisations, including academic libraries can create and leverage its knowledge base through initiation of appropriate knowledge management practices. TFPL (1999) argued that “for organisations to compete effectively in the knowledge economy they need to change their values and establish a new focus on creating and using intellectual assets”.

The success of academic libraries depends on their ability to utilise information and knowledge of its staff to better serve the needs of the academic community. Lee (2000) pointed out that the knowledge and experiences of library staff are the intellectual assets of any library and should be valued and shared. Academic libraries as constituents of the parent university should rethink and explore ways to improve their services and become learning organisations in which to discover how to capture and share tacit and explicit knowledge within the library. The changing role of academic librarians as knowledge managers emphasises the need to constantly update or acquire new skills and knowledge to remain relevant to the today’s library environment. Academic libraries may need to restructure their functions, expand their roles and responsibilities to effectively contribute and meet the needs of a large and diverse university community.

This article aims to give an overview of knowledge management and its role in universities and academic libraries. The article will report on the case study results of the academic librarians of the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg Libraries and their current knowledge management practices.

2. Knowledge management: an overview

Knowledge management is a concept that has emerged explosively in the business community and has been the subject of much discussion over the past decade by various researchers and authors (Allee 1997; Bhatt 2002; Davenport & Prusak 1998; Probst, Raub & Romhardt 2000; Skyrme 1997; Wiig 2000). The essential part of knowledge management is, of course, knowledge. To determine what knowledge management is, it is helpful first to distinguish the differences between data, information and knowledge.

2.1 Various knowledge concepts: from data to knowledge

Many writers have addressed the distinctions among data, information and knowledge (Allee 1997; Barquin 2000; Beller 2001; Bellinger, Castro & Mills 1997). According to Suurla, Markkula and Mustajarvi (2002, p.35), “data refers to codes, signs and signals that do not necessarily have any significance as such”. It means that data are raw facts that have no context or meaning of their own. Organisations collect, summarise and analyse data to identify patterns and trends. Most of the data thus collected is associated with functional processes of the organisation. On the other hand, information as a concept takes up different meanings, depending on the context in which is discussed. Data becomes information when organised, patterned, grouped, and or categorised; thus increasing depth of meaning to the receiver (Boone 2001, p.3). Through learning and adoption, information can be changed into knowledge (Suurla, Markkula & Mustajarvi, 2002). It is evident from literature that knowledge is an intrinsically ambiguous term, and therefore, defining it precisely is difficult. It is because different disciplines use the term to denote different things. Despite the difficulties in defining knowledge, it is well agreed that, “knowledge is the expertise, experience and capability of staff, integrated with processes and corporate memory” Knowledge is always bound to persons and validated in the context of application. A well-known distinction in this respect is that between explicit and tacit knowledge, a distinction first elaborated by Michael Polanyi (Skyrme, 2002). Polanyi (1966) cited in uit Beijerse (1999, p.99) stated that “personal or tacit knowledge is extremely important for human cognition, because people acquire knowledge by the active creation and organisation of their own experience”.

This implies that most of the knowledge is tacit and becomes explicit when shared. Tacit knowledge is personal, context-specific (Allee, 1997) and therefore hard to formalise and communicate. It resides in the brains of the people. Explicit or “codified” knowledge, on the other hand, refers to knowledge that is transmittable in formal, systematic language (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). In other words, explicit knowledge is expressed as information in various formats that include published materials and manuals of rules, routines and procedures.

Knowledge and management of knowledge appear to be regarded as increasingly important features for organisational survival (Martensson, 2000). knowledge is a fundamental factor, whose successful application helps organisations deliver creative products and services. different as compared to organisations existed in one or two decades ago in terms of their functions, structures and style of management. Yu (2002) pointed out that organisations put more emphasis on understanding, adapting and managing changes and competing on the basis of capturing and utilising knowledge to better serve their markets. The central argument around which knowledge management revolves is that people hold a wealth of knowledge and experience that represents a significant resource for an organisation. Most of this knowledge is represented in a wide variety of organisational processes, best practices and know-how (Gupta, Iyer & Aronson 2000). However, knowledge is diffused, and mostly unrecognised.

Today organisations are fundamentally It is important for organisations to determine who knows what in an organisation and how that knowledge can be shared throughout the organisation. For the purpose of this research, knowledge management is thus: the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organising, diffusion, use and exploitation. It requires turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared throughout an organisation and applied (Skyrme, 1997).

Formalising knowledge management activities in an organisation may help create consistency of methods and the transfer of best practices. Furthermore, knowledge should add value to the organisation as well as being an important dimension. However, most organisations operate in environments that they cannot control. It is because of the changes and challenges that organisations are faced with in the global knowledge economy. organisations could improve their performance in the global economy. The success of organisations is subject to both internal and external forces that they must operate in order to survive. Knowledge management is a viable means in which organisations could improve their performance in the global economy. The success of organisations is subject to both internal and external forces that they must operate in order to survive.

2.2 The changing role of universities

Knowledge management as it evolved in the business sector is slowly gaining acceptance in the academic sector. Oosterlink and Leuven (2002) pointed out that, “in our era of knowledge society and a knowledge economy, it is clear that universities have a major role to play”. In other words, universities are faced with a challenge to better create and disseminate knowledge to society. However, Reid (2000) argued “traditionally, universities have been the sites of knowledge production, storage, dissemination and authorisation”. Similarly, Ratcliffe-Martin, Coakes and Sugden (2000) articulated that universities traditionally focus on the acquisition of knowledge and learning.

As organisations (recognised to be in the knowledge business), universities and other higher education institutions face similar challenges that many other non-profit and for-profit organisations face (Rowley, 2000; Petrides & Nodine, 2003). Among these challenges are financial pressures, increasing public scrutiny and accountability, rapidly evolving technologies, changing staff roles, diverse staff and student demographics, competing values and a rapidly changing world (Naidoo, 2002). Universities seek to share information and knowledge among the academic community within the institution. Knowledge management has become a key issue in universities due to changes in knowledge cultures. Oosterlink and Leuven (2002)
argued that:
Universities are no longer living in splendid isolation.
They have their own place in society, and they have a
responsibility to society, which expects something in
return for privileges it has granted.

In other words, universities do not exist as single entities. They are part of society through engaging in teaching, research and community service. Therefore, the knowledge created in universities through research and teaching should be relevant to the labour market.

conservation of knowledge and ideas; teaching, research, publication, extension and services and interpretation (Budd, 1998; Ratcliffe-Martin, Coakes & Sugden, 2000). As a result, promoting knowledge as the business of the university should be the major focus of higher education institutions. It may be noted that the university is concerned with the Similar to corporate organisations there are forces that are driving the changes in the way universities operate. Nunan (1999) cited in Reid (2000) argued that “higher education is undergoing transformations due to a range of external forces such as market competition, virtualisation and internationalisation, giving rise to new ways of understanding the role and function of the university”. This implies that the present- day economic, social and technological context is bringing about changes to which universities must also adapt (CRUE, 2002). Universities compete against each other due to a great number of people who have access to higher education. Furthermore, the competitive pressures universities are now experiencing also result from changes in financial support, increasing costs of education and demand for educational services. Again, the present speed of knowledge transfer has generated an increasing demand from professionals and businesses for continuing education (CRUE, 2002).

This shift to a market orientation will alter the form in which knowledge is disseminated. That is, the focus of universities is moving away from the autonomy professionals and toward an integrated sharing of knowledge. Abell and Oxbrow (2001, p.230) pointed out that, “as with all organisations, academic institutions have recognised that their strength in the market may in future hinge on their ability to build collaborative and strategic partnerships”. These demands require the development of partnerships between universities and curricula customised to meet students’ needs. It can be noted that universities are complicated environments, incorporating a variety of very different kinds of work. As is true of all organisations, the universities have their own political structures and their own cultures (Budd, 1998, p.6). In addition to that, they have their own ways of responding to the society. Another challenge that universities face, is demographic changes and that affects the institution’s delivery of education and also the library’s delivery of service. It is a challenge that requires universities to restructure their services to meet the needs of the academic community.

It is suggested that institutions of higher education gear up for a massive increase in the demand for educational services (Stoffle, 1996). Hawkins (2000) highlighted that collaboration requires the actual commitment and investment of resources, based on a shared vision. As a result, universities may be required to pool their resources in terms of human expertise, skills and competencies to achieve their goals. These challenges which occur as a result of change and transformation demands that universities come to grips with the notion that collaboration is one of the means of competitive survival (Hawkins, 2000).

In addition, the universities’ market demands are changing in terms of improving student learning outcomes. Some of the changes taking place in higher education have a direct impact on the library and its services. These include alterations in institution’s curricula, demographic changes in student bodies and additions to the media used in the classroom and in support of research (Budd, 1998). This translates to a demand that cannot be met with current resources, present bureaucratic structures and traditional methods for delivering services. Reid (2000) pointed out that this causes universities to measure their teaching programmes, at least to some extent, as a market commodity that is aimed to meet the needs of the customer. In addition, universities will be required to re-examine all traditional methods and frameworks for a university education. In doing so, the discussion about this re-examination of the university will move into the same kind of paradigm shifting as that about libraries (Stoffle, 1996). It is also a challenge to academic libraries to support the needs of students for virtual learning.

libraries are turning to be “libraries without walls” and the information they deal with is now multi-format. Due to these challenges, it is clear that academic Furthermore, emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) allow for the virtualisation of teaching and learning (Reid, 2000). universities makes it possible for courses, modules and training programmes that are interactive and multimedia based to be delivered on any time any place basis (Stoffle, The use of ICTs in 1996). This has created competition between universities in terms of delivering higher education services to the academic community. In addition, universities have been influenced by the modes of organising that dominated the corporate world and institutions. The upshot of the foregoing is that universities are facing the need for massive change in organisational structure, organisational culture in order to facilitate and integrate the sharing of knowledge within the university community. Commitment to change and learning together is important in that it combines to turn the universities into learning organisations.

2.3 Role of knowledge management in universities

As organisations grow ever complex, the organisational structures reflect specialisation in knowledge and expertise. Budd (1998) argued that higher education, as it grew, took an organisational characteristic of these other institutions, because there was increasing organisational complexity, that is, the level of knowledge and expertise in an organisation. As a result, today many educational institutions are seeking better ways to transform that knowledge into effective decision-making and action (Petrides & Nodine, 2003). The focus of universities, is based on making individual knowledge reusable for the achievement of the missions of the university.

However, Ratcliffe-Martin, Coakes and Sugden (2000) argued that:
Universities do not generally manage information well. They tend to lose
it, fail to exploit it, duplicate it, do not share it, do not always share it, do
not always know what they know and do not recognise knowledge as an
asset.

In order for universities to achieve their institutional mission, that is, education, research and service to society, they need to be consciously and explicitly managing the processes associated with the creation of knowledge. Academic institutions exist to create knowledge, and thus, they have a role to play. Knowledge management should have significance in higher education institutions. Sallis and Jones (2002, p.74) pointed out that education ought to find it easier to embrace knowledge management ideas, processes and techniques than many other organisations. Oosterlink and Leuven (2002) emphasised that with a suitable and multifaceted approach to knowledge management, universities can guarantee their own survival and at the same time prove that they are essential to modern society.

This is supported to some extent by Achava-Amrung (2001), who stated that
“knowledge management involves setting an environment that allows college and university constituencies to create, capture, share and leverage knowledge to improve their performance in fulfilling institutional missions”. Knowledge management is an appropriate discipline for enabling a smooth integration of these new needs that have arisen from the present economic, social and technological context, into higher education. management should aim at both internal reorganisation of resources and improving teaching and research (CRUE 2002). It is clear in the era of a knowledge society and a knowledge economy that universities have a major role to play. Stoffle (1996) pointed out that:

The application of knowledge
It is in this area that academic libraries have a unique
window of opportunity to help shape the future of both
the library and the institution and it is the library’s
educational and knowledge management roles that hold
the keys to success in this new arena.

Academic libraries have always facilitated information exchange, so they are well placed to take on knowledge management functions.

2.4 Academic libraries and knowledge management

As mentioned earlier, academic libraries face unprecedented challenges in the 21st century. Libraries are human organisations, so they are subject to the same sort of influences that many other organisations must deal with (Budd, 1998). The changing environment of academic life demands new competencies in academic librarians (Mahmood, 2003). As a result, the knowledge and expertise of academic librarians needs to be seen as the library’s greatest asset. The following section is divided into three main parts. The first part highlights a number of important issues facing academic libraries. The second part looks at how knowledge management practices could be applied in academic libraries. The final part explores the skills and competencies needed to carry out knowledge management activities within academic libraries.

2.4.1 Changing environment and issues facing academic libraries

2.4.1.1 Multiple formats of information

The rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are said to be changing the way academic libraries operate today. Academic library collections are no longer collections comprised almost entirely of printed materials but collections comprised almost of materials in multiple formats and media (Budd, 1998). Information technologies such as computers, multimedia and CD-ROMs are bringing unprecedented abilities to academic libraries in providing services and resources to the university community. Over the past few years, the Web has had a tremendous effect on the growth of information and the speed of transmission. The problem with the Web is that, there is no real organisation of information like in the case of libraries. New means to deliver information over the Web places a challenge to academic librarians in terms of helping students make sense of information found on websites.

Another challenge facing academic libraries in the networked online environment is into exploit all forms of digital and telecommunication technologies and find new ways and means to provide feasible forms of collections; services and access to library materials (Foo et al., 2002). These technologies however, require greater responsibility to academic librarians. The challenge for academic librarians is to manage services, which offer users a carefully selected mix of multiple formats and media. Academic libraries should rethink their role in the whole university community. There is a need to support the needs of the users since the teaching and learning patterns in universities have changed. As information and research resources become more varied, this places a challenge to academic libraries. information, in research strategies and in the structure of higher education are affecting academic libraries. These changes define much of the shifting context within which academic libraries must operate. The changes brought by electronic Hazen (2000) argued that the changes in the nature of media necessitate transformation in the way librarians think about their jobs, the users of information and communication process of which they are part of (Budd 1998, p.270). Academic librarians must strive to remain competent navigators of each medium on order to assist the library users.

2.4.1.2 Changing user needs

As universities’ market demands are changing in terms of improving students learning outcomes, this has a direct impact on academic libraries and their delivery of services. Due to societal and technological developments, traditional teaching changes increasingly in creating learning environments.
learning processes via more ‘indirect’ contacts with teachers and facilities, including scientific information (Van Bentum & Braaksma, 1999). In addition, the teaching and learning patterns have developed towards greater modularisation and place an emphasis on self-directed, independent study and student-centred learning (Farley, Broady-Preston & Hayward 1998, p.154). This places greater demands on the library, which is increasingly being used for group work, and librarians face increased pressure on the enquiry service and a greater need for user support and education. Students participate in flexible Academic libraries have to provide information services for users acting in the changing academic environment. Academic librarians need to liaise with library users, faculties and schools to support the effective teaching, learning and research in universities. As Parker and Jackson (1998) explained, liaison is particularly important in a world of resource-based learning where students are encouraged to carry out more independent work and make wider use of a range of learning resources (including electronic information resources).

libraries to offer user-friendly ICT oriented facilities (like remote access to information and services), analyse the changing user needs and give support to users in new academic environments. The challenges require academic

2.4.1.3 Organisational structures

As a result of rapid environmental changes, academic libraries need to rethink their organisational structures in an attempt to provide quality service to the university community. The question to ask is: are academic libraries organisationally capable of addressing the challenges and issues facing them? Hazen (2000) pointed out that the structures that define academic libraries vary between countries, between institutions and between types of institutions. In other words, the type of organisational structure existing in academic libraries is determined by their readiness to deal with current challenges. Stoffle (1996) suggested that “we must flatten our organisations and eliminate the bureaucracies that make us inflexible and slow in our response to our environment and the opportunities that are constantly presented”. organisational structures are more conducive to innovation than are rigid hierarchies (Edwards & Walton, 1996). They promote the creation of ideas. Flatter There is a need to reshape the structure of academic libraries so that they will be able to improve the services they provide to both today’s and tomorrow’s users. Wilson (1998, p.17) urged university librarians to make their organisations more client- centred, to redesign work processes in light of organisational goals, and restructure in order to support front-line performance. The emphasis is more on the needs of the library user than the needs of the library. Moran (2001) argued that the hallmark of a learning organisation is information sharing, team-based structure, empowered employees, decentralised decision making and participative strategy. organisations, academic libraries need to reshape their structures to better serve their users.

2.4.1.4 Changing role of academic librarians

In an age of great change in information formats, delivery models and technologies, an important new role emerges for the academic librarian (CETUS, 1999). Bertnes (2000) argued that knowledge workers will be the most important profession in this century. There is no doubt that they are librarians. One of the major roles of academic librarians in the knowledge economy is that of knowledge managers. It is evident that academic librarians can no longer meet the information needs of the university community through the traditional avenue of simply adding to their library collections. Academic librarians need to go an extra mile. They need to understand the information and knowledge needs of users. They should be in a position to map internal and external knowledge that would assist them in increasing their efficiency. In other words, academic librarians should extend their information management roles and enhance their knowledge management competencies. Foo et al., (2002) pointed out that academic librarians as knowledge workers, need to play active roles in searching for innovative solutions to the issues involved in adapting to new environments.

2.5 Applying knowledge management practices in academic libraries

The basic goal of knowledge management within libraries is to leverage the available knowledge that may help academic librarians to carry out their tasks more efficiently and effectively. Knowledge management is also aimed at extending the role of librarians to manage all types of information and tacit knowledge for the benefit of the library. Knowledge management can help transform the library into a more efficient, knowledge sharing organization (Jantz, 2001, p.34). Kim (1999) pointed out that knowledge management practices aim to draw out the tacit knowledge people have, what they carry around with them, what they observe and learn from experience, rather than what is usually explicitly stated. It is important for academic libraries to determine and manage their knowledge assets to avoid duplication of efforts. Knowledge management process involves the creation, capturing, sharing and utilisation of knowledge.

2.5.1 Knowledge creation

Whether the key objective of academic libraries is to provide resources and information services to support the university community, the key resource that is required is knowledge. knowledge of library users and their needs, knowledge of the library collection and knowledge of library facilities and technologies available. These types of knowledge must be put together so that new knowledge is created which leads to the improvement and development of service to the users and functioning of the academic library.

However, this diverse knowledge is rather dispersed across all library sections and up the library hierarchy. The knowledge is not held by one individual only but by a number of individuals. Newell et al. (2002, p.48) pointed out that:

Knowledge creation is typically the outcome of an interactive process that
will involve a number of individuals who are brought together in a project
team or some other collaborative arrangement.

Only where there is interaction and communication can be a comparison of each person’s ideas and experiences with those of others. particularly important process of knowledge management. That is, the knowledge of the library’s operation, the Knowledge creation is a It focuses on the development of new skills, new products, better ideas and more efficient processes (Probst, Raub & Romhardt, 2000). In addition, knowledge creation refers to the ability to originate novel and useful ideas and solutions (Bhatt, 2001). As a result, when an organization knows what it knows, values and prioritizes that knowledge, and develops systems for leveraging and sharing, it leads directly to the creation of new knowledge (Huseman & Goodman 1999, p.216). Knowledge in the context of academic libraries can be created through understanding the user needs and requirements as well as understanding the university’s curricula. Tang (1998) pointed out that from the library’s perspective, knowledge creation implies participating more in user’s reading and studying by identifying information needs. In order to succeed, academic library services must link with the university’s academic programme or curricula. knowledge creation process through participating in the teaching and research activities of the university. Knowledge creation in this context should involve all the management effort through which the academic library consciously strives to acquire competencies that it does not have both internally and externally. Academic librarians can become part of the

2.5.2 Knowledge capturing and acquisition

Capturing and acquiring knowledge is crucial to the success and development of a knowledge-based organization. Organizations often suffer permanent loss of valuable experts through dismissals, redundancies, retirement and death (Probst, Raub & Romhardt 2000, p.226). The reason for this is that much knowledge is stored in the heads of the people and it is often lost if not captured elsewhere. The surest way to avoid collective loss of organizational memory is to identify the expertise and the skills of staff and capture it.

Academic libraries need to develop ways of capturing its internal knowledge, devise systems to identify people’s expertise and develop ways of sharing it. processes of capturing knowledge can include collating internal profiles of academic librarians and also standardizing routine information-update reports.

In addition, successful libraries are those that are user-centred and are able to respond to users’ needs. As users became more sophisticated, academic libraries need to develop innovative ways to respond – to add value to their services. Academic libraries need to be aware and to aim at capturing the knowledge that exists within them. The type of enquiries, for example, that are most commonly received at the reference desk should be captured and placed within easy reach to better serve users in the shortest time possible. It is important to create a folder of frequently asked questions to enable academic librarians to not only provide an in-depth customized reference service but also to become knowledgeable about handling different enquiries. Huseman and Goodman (1999, p.204) pointed out that there are times when an organization does not possess certain knowledge internally and does not have the skills to find it. As a result, academic libraries find themselves unable to develop the know-how that they need. Extra knowledge must therefore be acquired somehow if it is felt it will be useful to the goals of the academic library. The academic library as an organization may want to look outside its own boundaries to outsource or acquire new knowledge. From the point of view of knowledge management, outsourcing may be described as substituting external know-how for internal know-how (Probst, Raub & Romhardt, 2000).

In addition, as work practices change and people work more flexibly, it is important to provide ways to allow them to access external information (Westwood, 2001). Librarians have been dealing with building and searching online databases for a longtime. This kind of experience can be very helpful in building knowledge bases and repositories, a crucial area of knowledge management for managing organizational memory (Foo et al., 2002). Knowledge acquisition is the starting point of knowledge management in libraries (Shanhong, 2000). Knowledge in academic libraries can be acquired through:

• Establishing knowledge links or networking with other libraries and with institutions of all kinds;

• Attending training programmes, conferences, seminars and workshops;

• Subscribing to listservs and online or virtual communities of practice;

• Buying knowledge products or resources in the form of manuals, blueprints, reports and research reports.

Academic libraries need to gear up to equip academic librarians with the know-how they need to cope with the rapid changes of the 21st century, which is more information driven and knowledge-generated than any other area.

2.5.3 Knowledge sharing

Expertise exists in people, and much of this kind of knowledge is tacit rather than explicit (Branin, 2003), which makes it difficult to be shared. At its most basic, knowledge sharing is simply about transferring the dispersed know-how of organisational members more effectively. experiences gained internally and externally in the organization. Making this know- how available to other organisational members will eliminate or reduce duplication of efforts and form the basis for problem solving and decision-making. Knowledge sharing is based on the In the context of academic libraries, it can be noted that a great deal of knowledge sharing is entirely uncoordinated and any sharing of information and knowledge has been on an informal basis and usually based on conversation. Although knowledge has always been present in organizations, and to some extent shared, this has been very much on an ad hoc basis, until recently it was certainly not overtly managed or promoted as the key to organisational success (Webb, 1998). More emphasis is placed on formalizing knowledge sharing.

Jantz (2001, p.35) had pointed out that in many library settings, there is no systematic approach to organizing the knowledge of the enterprise, and making it available to other librarians and staff in order to improve the operation of the library. academic libraries to utilize their know-how, it is necessary that they become knowledge-based organizations. Academic libraries need to prepare themselves for using and sharing knowledge. To determine if there is any practice of knowledge sharing in academic libraries, we need to ask ourselves these questions: are academic librarians encouraged to share knowledge? Are the skills and competencies in the academic library identified and shared? How is the knowledge shared? Is knowledge sharing the norm? The expertise and know-how of organisational members should be valued and shared. Probst, Raub & Romhardt (2000, p.164) have pointed out that it is vital that knowledge should be shared and distributed within an organization, so that isolated information or experience can be used by the whole company. In reality, distribution and sharing knowledge is not easy task (Davenport, 1994). However, it is important for organizations to motivate why knowledge is being shared. The importance of knowledge sharing should be based on the capability of academic librarians to identify, integrate and acquire external knowledge. This should include knowledge denoting library practices, users and operational capabilities.

2.6 Skills and competencies needed for knowledge management

Knowledge management activities are aimed at facilitating the creation, capturing and acquisition, sharing and utilization of knowledge.such knowledge-enabling initiatives in the workplace requires the knowledge manager to apply several skills-sets (TFPL, 1999). In the perspective of academic libraries, there is a need for academic librarians to extend their expertise. transformation from librarian to knowledge manager is clearly underway (Church, 1998). However, this impending shift of incorporating knowledge management in the library activities requires a great deal of preparation. Bishop (2001) pointed out that the challenge for the information professional lies in applying competencies used in ‘managing information’ to the broader picture of ‘managing knowledge’. The greater challenge is managing the know-how of organisational members, which they acquire through years of experience.

The success of academic libraries depends on the capabilities and skills of its staff to serve the needs of the university community more efficiently and effectively. To be successful in this environment, individuals need to acquire new combination of skills (TFPL, 1999).  Bishop (2001) argued that managing knowledge requires a mix of In making knowledge moretechnical, organisational and interpersonal skills. accessible, it useful to have knowledge of the organisation, customer service orientation and training skills (Koina, 2002). Teng and Hawamdeh (2002, p.195) summed up the skills needed by the information professional in a knowledge-based environment:

•IT literacy, that is knowing how to use the appropriate technology to capture, catalogue and disseminate information and knowledge to the target audience and knowing how to translate that knowledge into a central database for employees of the organisation to access;

• A sharp and analytical mind;

• Innovation and inquiring;

•Enables knowledge creation, flow and communication within the organisation and between staff and public.

It is important for academic libraries to encourage librarians to constantly update their skills and competencies in this changing environment.

3. Results and discussions

The following section will partly present and discuss the research results of a case study conducted at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg Libraries. The research was aimed at understanding the knowledge situation of the library and to establish the ways in which the academic librarians could add value to their services by engaging with knowledge management.

3.1 Brief profile of respondents

The respondents work across various sections of the library with the major ones being the Issue Desk (34.8%), Subject Librarian Unit (26.1%) and Short Loan (21.7%). A large majority of the respondents were female (82.61%) and this is an indication that women largely dominate the profession. Almost half (52.17%) of the respondents were between 26 and 35 years old with the remaining ones almost evenly split between the ages 36-45 years (26.09%), 46-55 years (17.39%) and the smallest age group were over 55 years (4.35%). The results further indicated that a large majority of respondents have 6-10 years of working experience in academic libraries.

In terms of educational background, most of the respondents have a postgraduate degree in library and information science (see Figure One) and this show the demands of the profession in terms of keeping skills current. In addition to the qualifications, some of the academic librarians interviewed indicated that they keep updating their skills especially when new multimedia products are installed in the library.

3.2 Knowledge management practices

Respondents were asked to indicate the library’s use of formal, informal and everyday knowledge management practices in terms of current use and not in use. Knowledge management practices aim to draw out the tacit knowledge people have, what they carry around with them, what they observe and learn from experience, rather than what is usually explicitly stated (Kim 1999). Knowledge management practices were categorised into policies and strategies, leadership, knowledge capturing and acquisition and knowledge sharing.

3.2.1 Most knowledge management practices in use

3.2.1.1 Partnerships with other libraries

The study was interested to find out if the library does collaborate with other libraries. Overall, 73.9% respondents said the library had used partnerships with other libraries to acquire knowledge. Leveraging and sharing knowledge is a key component of partnerships or collaborations. Today libraries face innumerable challenges that are so complex and interrelated that no single librarian, library manager or library can cope to address them alone. In order to address these challenges, libraries need a broad array of knowledge, skills and resources. become increasingly networked, libraries have begun to form new partnerships with other libraries to develop and improve services and products that support users and advance access to scholarly information. Cohen and Levinthal (2000:39) pointed out that “the ability of a firm to recognise the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it, to commercial ends is critical to its innovative capabilities”. The same applies to academic libraries, in that librarians need information and knowledge to effectively improve their services for users in an increasingly complex and sophisticated information environment. As the information environment has

3.2.1.2 Knowledge sharing

The study also wanted to find out if staff was systematically sharing their know-how, expertise and experiences through various mechanisms. Respondents indicated that they shared knowledge informally within the library (87.0%), preparing written documentation such as newsletters (82.6%), and in collaborative work by teams (52.2%). The study also wanted to find out the level of knowledge sharing in the library. Overall, 47.8% of the participants said that knowledge sharing in the library was on average, 21.7% mentioned that it was good, 17.4% said it was poor and 13.0% indicated that it was unsatisfactory. It can be argued that though the library does share knowledge to some extent, however, there is little systematic sharing of knowledge taking place among the academic library staff. More emphasis should be placed on formalising knowledge sharing activities.

3.2.2 Knowledge management practices not in use

3.2.2.1 Policies and strategies

Respondents (60.9%) indicated that the library had no written knowledge management policy and strategy and 39.1% respondents said they were not aware of any knowledge management policies or strategies in place. The results indicate that knowledge management is not seen as an integral part of the library’s mission and objectives. In addition, the results indicate that there is a lack of awareness of knowledge management in the library. In most cases academic libraries do not systematically or formally harness and manage their knowledge management activities.

3.2.2.2 Leadership

With regard to who takes part in leading knowledge management activities, the results indicate neither the University Librarian (78.3%) nor the library staff (56.5%) is involved in knowledge management activities. With the follow-up interviews conducted, the library staff indicated that if the library has to implement knowledge management, they need the support of management and that the University Librarian should play a leadership role in knowledge management activities.

3.2.2.2 Knowledge capturing and acquisition

The study was interested to find out if the library had captured and acquired the knowledge of its internal staff. Overall, 87.0% of respondents indicated that there was no capturing and acquisition of knowledge of internal staff. The results show that the library has not recognised the capacity of its staff. Capturing and acquiring knowledge is crucial to the success and development of a knowledge-based organisation. With the follow up interviews conducted, participants indicated that there was a high staff turnover. The participants mentioned that the know-how and expertise of the retired and resigned staff has not been captured elsewhere. As Probst, Raub and Romhardt (2000:226) had said “organisations often suffer permanent loss of valuable knowledge through dismissals, redundancies, retirement and death”. It is important for the library to gear towards developing ways to capture the expertise and know-how of its staff.

3.3 Possible reasons to apply knowledge management practices

This question was trying to find out the possible reasons to apply knowledge management practices in the library. Respondents (69.6%) found that promoting the sharing or transferring of knowledge with users such as lecturers and students was critical. It is because the role of academic libraries is to provide and disseminate information to its users.

important to identify and protect strategic knowledge present in the library. Lee (2000) pointed out that the knowledge and experiences of library staff are the intellectual assets of any library and should be valued and shared. The success of academic libraries depends on their ability to utilise information and knowledge within.

3.4 Skills needed for knowledge management

The study was trying to find out the skills that academic librarians need in order to better serve the needs of the users.  The results show that academic librarians are in need of skills and competencies that could help them engage in knowledge management activities. It is indicated in the literature that the success of academic libraries depends on the capabilities and skills of its staff to better serve the needs of the university community more efficiently and effectively. Academic librarians need to constantly update their skills and competencies.

3.5 Motivation to implement knowledge management practices

The study wanted to find out what could motivate the library to implement knowledge management practices. Participants indicated the following:
• The difficulty in capturing staff’s undocumented knowledge;
• Loss of key personnel and their knowledge;
• To contribute to knowledge creation of knowledge to the parent university;
• To increase knowledge sharing and
• To increase staff productivity.

It can be noted that there are various reasons into which organisations embark on knowledge management activities.In the case of the University of Natal,  Pietermaritzburg Libraries the problem lies with lack of capturing the knowledge of staff. Knowledge capturing is an important process that enables individual knowledge to be reusable in the whole organisation. The library should establish ways in which knowledge could be captured.

source : citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.137.8283

Hal yang dapat di pelajari dari kasus di atas adalah bahwa universitas natal ini berusaha untuk meningkatkan pelayanan mereka dalam sharing informasi dengan menerapkan Knowledge Management. agar knowledge Management ini dapat berjalan maka para karyawannya di harapkan mampu untuk menerapkan budaya sharing informasi berbagi pengetahuan . selain itu , keberhasilannya juga tergantung pada kemampuan para karyawannya dalam memanfaatkan informasi dan pengetahuan. pengetahuan dan pengalaman merupakan aset intelektual suatu perpustakaan , apabila ke duanya tidak di jalankan maka akan menimbulkan suatu masalah.

A. Pendahuluan

APTEKINDO, akronim dari Asosiasi Pendidikan Teknik dan Kejuruan Indonesia, merupakan asosiasi institusi pendidikan tinggi yang menyelenggarakan pendidikan calon guru pendidikan teknologi dan kejuruan, Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, Program Diploma, Politeknik dan Lembaga Diklat di Indonesia. Sedangkan tujuan yang ingin dicapai adalah

1. Turut aktif dalam upaya menyukseskan pembangunan nasional, khususnya dibidang pendidikan dengan jalan memberikan sumbangan pemikiran dan menunjang pelaksanaan program yang menjadi garis kebijaksanaan pemerintah,
2. Mengembangkan serta memajukan pendidikan kejuruan sebagai ilmu profesi dalam rangka ikut mempersiapkan sumberdaya manusia yang berkualitas tinggi di Indonesia,
3. Mengupayakan pengembangan dan kemajuan Lembaga Pendidikan Tenaga Kependidikan Pendidikan Teknologi dan Kejuruan (LPTK-PTK) Universitas dan institusi pendidikan kejuruan lainnya,
4. Mengupayakan pengembangan ketenagakerjaan dalam arti seluas-luasnya, dan
5. Mempertinggi professionalisme tenaga kependidikan kejuruan sesuai dengan tuntutan perkembangan masyarakat .

Sedangkan Fungsi APTEKINDO yaitu:

1. Sebagai inovator dan inisiator dalam perumusan kebijakan pendidikan kejuruan,
2. Sebagai wadah persatuan, pembinaan dan pengembangan anggota dalam upaya mencapai tujuan organisasi,
3. Sebagai wadah peran serta profesional pendidikan kejuruan dalam usaha menyukseskan pembangunan nasional,
4. Sebagai sarana penyalur aspirasi anggota serta sarana komunikasi sosial timbal balik antar organisasi kemasyarakatan dan pemerintah,
5. Ikut serta berperan dalam proses pengawasan mutu pendidikan kejuruan di Indonesia, dan
6. Memberikan advokasi kepada anggota APTEKINDO . Tujuan dan fungsi APTEKINDO ini tidak akan tercapai jika tidak ada resource sharing yang meliputi kepakaran, fasilitas, dan pengetahuan antar sesama anggota APTEKINDO.

Anggota APTEKINDO terdiri dari Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi, Politeknik, SMK dan Lemdiklat dengan lokasi masing-masing anggota tersebar di seluruh nusantara, yang berjauhan secara geografis. Dengan kondisi seperti itu maka sharing fasilitas seperti peralatan praktek, workshop, dan laboratorium hanya dapat dilakukan antar sesama anggota yang lokasinya berdekatan, sedangkan untuk sharing knowledge dan kepakaran masih relatif jarang dilakukan.

Acara sharing semacam ini masih terbatas pada acara rutin pertemuan dalam bentuk konvensi dua tahunan anggota APTEKINDO sehingga bisa dikatakan sharing resources pada jaringan APTEKINDO belum berfungsi maksimal, mengingat:

1. Acara konvensi rutin dua tahunan tersebut umumnya tidak dapat dihadiri oleh seluruh dosen (peneliti) dari seluruh perguruan tinggi anggota karena keterbatasan waktu serta anggaran. Oleh karena itu, dosen yang tidak hadir dalam pertemuan tersebut sering kali tidak mengetahui hal-hal yang dibahas pada pertemuan tersebut.
2. Pembicaraan yang disampaikan dalam acara tersebut seringkali hanya seputar kebijakan dan manajemen organisasi, sedangkan presentasi kepakaran masih sangat minim.
3. Dokumentasi database hasil tiap-tiap pertemuan masih dilakukan secara manual, yaitu berbentuk CD, prosiding, maupun tersimpan dalam hardisk panitia penyelenggara.

Kondisi ini mencerminkan bahwa kondisi manajemen knowledge dalam APTEKINDO belum terkonsep dengan baik sehingga belum saling memberikan manfaat positif antar sesama anggotanya. Dengan manajemen yang baik, banyak manfaat yang bisa dipetik misalnya mengenai manajemen pembelajaran, kurikulum, kepakaran bidang tertentu, pengembangan karir, dan sebagainya.

Untuk mewujudkan hal tersebut harus dibudayakan kebiasaan menulis dan mem-publish tulisan. Selain itu diperlukan juga sistem manajemen knowledge
yang secara nasional tidak hanya dapat diakses oleh seluruh anggota APTEKINDO, namun juga menuntut para anggotanya untuk mem-publish ide, gagasan, atau hasil penelitiannya. Selain itu, wadah untuk menanggapi (diskusi) topik yang telah diposting oleh member juga harus tersedia. Sistem manajemen knowledge organisasi semacam ini dikenal dengan istilah OKMS (Organisation Knowledge Management System).

Pada dasarnya proses manajemen knowledge meliputi 4 fungsi pokok, yaitu using knowledge (penggunaan knowledge) , finding knowledge (penemuan knowledge), creating knowledge (pembuatan knowledge) serta packaging knowledge (pengemasan knowledge).

DIKTI sebagai induk seluruh perguruan tinggi di Indonesia telah melaksanakan program INHERENT yang tujuannya adalah memfasilitasi terjadinya resource sharing antar perguruan tinggi di Indonesia dengan menyediakan jaringan dengan kapasitas yang memadai (155 Mbps). Oleh karena itu, jaringan yang telah dibangun atas program INHERENT ini akan semakin berarti jika dipergunakan untuk melaksanakan program knowledge management secara lebih terkonsep.

Gagasan pembangunan knowledge infrastructure berbasis knowledge management di Indonesia yang pertama kali dipromotori oleh KMRG ITB (Knowledge Management Research Group) yang diketuai oleh Ismail Fahmi . Infrastruktur dibangun berbasis web dengan tujuan supaya terjadi tolong-menolong (sharing) antar sesama insitutusi pendidikan di Indonesia dalam usaha mencerdaskan bangsa.

1. Pembudayaan Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge management syatem diharapkan mampu membuat berbagai informasi (shared information) menjadi lebih baik. Knowledge management termasuk strategi dari tanggung jawab dan tindak lanjut (commitment), baik untuk meningkatkan efektifitas organisasi maupun untuk meningkatkan peluang/kesempatan.

Tujuan dari knowledge management adalah meningkatkan kemampuan organisasi untuk melaksanakan proses inti lebih efisien. Supaya knowledge management system berhasil dilaksanakan pada APTEKINDO maka hal-hal berikut ini harus dibudayakan pada anggotanya, baik secara individu maupun insitusi:

1. menciptakan knowledge: knowledge diciptakan begitu seseorang menentukan cara baru untuk melakukan sesuatu atau menciptakan know-how. Kadang-kadang knowledge eksternal dibawa ke dalam organisasi/institusi,
2. menangkap knowledge: knowledge baru diidentifikasikan sebagai bernilai dan direpresentasikan dalam suatu cara yang masuk akal,
3. menjaring knowledge: knowledge baru harus ditempatkan dalam konteks agar dapat ditindaklanjuti. Hal ini menunjukkan kedalaman manusia (kualitas tacit) yang harus ditangkap bersamaan dengan fakta explicit,
4. menyimpan knowledge: knowledge yang bermanfaat harus disimpan dalam format yang baik dalam penyimpanan knowledge, sehingga semua anggota dalam organisasi dapat mengaksesnya,
5. mengolah knowledge: seperti perpustakaan, knowledge harus dibuat up-to-date. Hal tersebut harus di-review untuk menjelaskan apakah relevan atau akurat,
6. menyebarluaskan knowledge: knowledge harus tersedia dalam format yang bermanfaatuntuk semua orang dalam organisasi yang memerlukan, dimanapun dan tersedia setiap saat.

Dalam organisasi APTEKINDO aspek yang perlu untuk di-manage sebagai knowledge yang perlu di-share di antaranya kemampuan, jadual kegiatan (rapat, ceramah, diskusi, seminar dsb), output yang dihasilkan misalnya pedoman, laporan, prosedur, klasifikasi dan lain sebagainya. Hal-hal tersebut menjadi objek knowledge yang bermanfaat bagi seluruh anggota APTEKINDO jika dikelola dengan baik, dieksplisitkan, dan bisa diakses oleh seluruh anggota.

Catatan penting yang juga sangat mempengaruhi berhasil tidaknya knowledge management pada APTEKINDO adalah:

1. Penerapannya tidak hanya menghasilkan knowledge baru, tetapi juga mendaur ulang knowledge yang sudah ada. Oleh karena itu knowledge yang dipmiliki sejak lama harus digali kembali dan di-eksplisitkan.
2. Teknologi informasi memang merupakan sarana yang paling mudah dalam menjembatani terjadinya jejaring sistem knowledge management akan tetapi harus disadari pula belum sepenuhnya bisa menggantikan fungsi-fungsi jaringan sosial antar anggota organisasi. Oleh karena itu, tatap muka juga masih tetap diperlukan.
3. Sebagian besar organisasi tidak pernah tahu apa yang sesungguhnya mereka ketahui, banyak knowledge penting yang harus ditemukan lewat upaya-upaya khusus, padahal knowledge itu sudah dimiliki organisasi tersebut sejak lama.

2. Usulan Konsep APTEKINDO Knowledge Management

Di organisasi-organisasi modern saat ini, pandangan tentang manajemen perubahan bersinggungan dengan cara mereka memberlakukan knowledge sebagai modal intelektual. Manajemen perubahan mencakup prinsip, alat analisis, ICT, teori perubahan strategis, peningkatan fungsi individu, sistem, struktur dan proses kerja yang di dahului dengan desain organisasi, perbaikan kinerja pegawai, hubungan antar bidang/bagian/kelompok dalam suatu organisasi. Hal ini juga berlaku bagi APTEKINDO.

Gambar 3 menunjukkan usulan gambaran umum konsep APTEKINDO knowledge management system. Sistem terbangun atas 4 pilar utama, yaitu teknologi, aktifitas, interface, dan berbagai komponen. Aktifitas yang diperlukan dalam sistem ini di antaranya web browing, computer based collaboration, searching dan data mining. Semua aktifitas itu bisa dilakukan dengan menggunakan web browser. Interface yang bisa dipergunakan untuk menjembatani terjadinya kolaborasi informasi ini selain web browser juga mailling list, forum diskusi, bahkan jika diperlukan aplikasi C/S (customer service). Adapun komponen yang ada dalam sistem untuk mensuplai terjadinya berbagai kegiatan tersebut meliputi database, web platform, data management tools, perangkat pengirim pesan, search engine, web service, document management serta interference engine.

Teknology yang dibutuhkan untuk menyokong layanan tersebut di antaranya adalah RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), aplikasi client-server, web service serta artificial inelegance (AI). Dengan latar belakang anggota yang tersebar di seluruh Indonesia maka hal yang paling memungkinkan APTEKINDO knowledge management system tersebut adalah web based knowledge management portal, yaitu situs portal komunitas yang beranggotakan seluruh individu-individu dari insitusi anggota APTEKINDO yang bertujuan untuk saling sharing pengetahuan. Bentuk ini relatif sangat mudah untuk diwujudkan sedangkan manfaatnya juga sangat besar. Konsep semacam ini sudah dilaksanakan dengan sangat baik bahkan dipromotori secara mandiri oleh perorangan. Contoh yang sangat nyata adalah www.ilmukomputer.com dan www.sony-ak.com. Kedua situs tersebut dibangun untuk tujuan sharing ilmu, hanya saja dalam hal ini, dilakukan oleh volunteer-volunteer yang berasal dari pribadi maupun berbagai kalangan yang dengan kesadaran men-share pikirannya untuk dipelajari orang.

Berkembangnya opensource web platform yang sangat melimpah merupakan
potensi yang sangat besar untuk implementasi sistem tersebut. Tentu saja hal ini masih memerlukan pencermatan yang lebih mendalam sehingga bisa dipilih web-platform yang memadai untuk melaksanakan fungsi ini. Hal-hal yang harus diperhatikan dalam memilih opensource web platform tersebut di antaranya:

1. Semaksimal mungkin bisa menjalankan berbagai fungsi seperti yang telah diuraikan di atas, diantaranya fungsi manajemen data, manajemen dokumen, searching, massaging, dan sebagainya.
2. Banyak disuplai oleh berbagai plugin oleh komunitas terbuka sehingga memungkinkan penyempurnaan fasilitas jika diperlukan.
3. Mudah diimplementasikan dengan interface yang user friendly.
4. Multi-user sehingga memungkinkan penggunaan bersama-sama oleh seluruh anggota. Namun demikian juga harus ada feature untuk manajemen hak akses oleh anggota.

Beberapa keuntungan dengan dimilikinya knowledge portal bagi APTEKINDO
adalah adanya gambaran yang konsisten mengenai organisasi APTEKINDO, kemampuan mengelola dan mencari informasi, akses langsung ke informasi dan sumber daya organisasi, hubungan langsung ke laporan-laporan, dan pertanyaan-pertanyaan, hubungan langsung ke data yang dibutuhkan dan keahlian seseorang, serta identitas individu dan akses ke isi/subyek (content) yang dapat dipersonalisasi.

Setiarso menjelaskan bahwa merebaknya fenomena knowledge management dapat dilihat sebagai keinginan mengembalikan hakikat “knowledg ” dan menghindari pandangan bahwa knowledge adalah benda mati. Di dalam kehidupan berorganisasi, baik untuk bisnis maupun non-bisnis, maka knowledge selalu dikaitkan dengan potensi nilai yang ada pada berbagai komponen atau proses (aliran) keseluruhan “modal” dalam organisasi tersebut. “Modal” disini tentu saja bukan hanya soal investasi dan uang, tetapi juga “modal sosial” (social capital). Para proponen konwledge management selalu menegaskan bahwa sebuah organisasi seharusnya tidak berhenti pada “memiliki knowledge” dalam arti menimbun tumpukan dokumen yang dilengkapi dengan alat temu-kembali. Persoalan terpenting yang dihadapi organisasi-organisasi modern saat ini adalah: bagaimana mengintegrasikan timbunan knowledge eksplisit itu ke dalam keseluruhan kemampuan dan kegiatan organisasi.

Di dalam aktivitas setiap organisasi, maka tidak dapat dihindari bahwa knowledge yang diperlukan adalah knowledge yang tertanam di dalam diri masing-masing pribadi dan juga tercakup dalam kerjasama antar pribadi. Semua ini bukan hanya knowledge eksplisit, tapi juga tacit knowledge, terlebih lagi knowledge ini menjadi dinamis sejalan dengan perubahan-perubahan yang terjadi di dunia eksternal maupun internal dari sebuah organisasi. Sehingga hal ini merupakan fungsi manajemen knowledge, yaitu bagaimana mengelola dinamika penggunaan knowledge tacit yang terintegrasi dengan knowledge eksplisit.

3.  Simpulan

1. Dengan APTEKINDO knowledge management system, inovasi dan perkembangan insitusi menjadi lebih cepat karena dengan pola siklus knowledge management tersebut semua pengetahuan terarsip dengan baik dan dapat diakses dengan mudah oleh seluruh anggota. Namun demikian diperlukan kemauan masing-masing individu dalam insitusi anggota APTEKINDO untuk mengeksplisitkan semua tacit knowledge yang dimiliki sehingga bisa disebarluaskan kepada anggota lain. Sikap yang harus dibudayakan untuk pembentukan sistem ini diantaranya menciptakan, menangkap, menjaring, menyimpan, mengolah, dan menyebarluaskan knowledge masing-masing.
2. APTEKINDO Knowledge Management System terdiri dari aspek aktifitas, teknologi pendukung, interface dan berbagai komponen pendukung lainnya. Namun demikian perkembang opensource web platform saat ini memungkinkan implementasi knowledge management portal dalam bentuk yang lebih sederhana akan tetapi sudah cukup menjembatani terjadinya sharing culture di organisasi termasuk APTEKINDO.

source : y2n.staff.fkip.uns.ac.id/…/implementasi-knowledge–management.pdf

Hal yang dapat di pelajari dari kasus APTEKINDO diatas adalah Bahwa knowledge management di APTEKINDO ini belum berjalan dengan baik sebagaimana mestinya karena APTEKINDO ini tidak pernah membudidayakan budaya sharing dari dosen ke anggota . untuk  dapat menciptakan  Management yang baik , maka APTEKINDO menciptkan suatu fitur atau aplikasi OKMS untuk dapat menampung ide – ide inovatif atau sharing informasi dari anggota APTEKINDO yang mampu menghasilkan manfaat positif antar sesama anggota APTEKINDO mengenai pembelajaran kurikulum dan pengembangan karier.   selain itu , inovasi dan perkembangan insitusi menjadi lebih cepat karena dengan pola siklus knowledge management tersebut semua pengetahuan terarsip dengan baik dan dapat diakses dengan mudah oleh seluruh anggota. Namun demikian diperlukan kemauan masing-masing individu dalam insitusi anggota APTEKINDO untuk mengeksplisitkan semua tacit knowledge yang dimiliki sehingga bisa disebarluaskan kepada anggota lain.

1. INTRODUCTION

Knowledge has become a crucial factor for the success of an organisation in our information society. In the nuclear domain, handling knowledge has always been at the core of many organisations involved in the field. Most of these organisations would have been fully entitled to claim being a “knowledge-based” organisation – long before this attribute became established as a key concept in knowledge management.

So what is new in the surge of knowledge management which we have witnessed in the last years? Two aspects appear to be at the heart of the widespread attention knowledge management has gained:

• first, the proposition to look at the various aspects of knowledge such as generation, distribution and use of knowledge from an analytic point of view – with the aim of promoting and improving knowledge-intensive processes;
• second, the advances in information technologies, which allow the practical implementation of the developed methods as well as the participation of large audiences. In the following, the benefit of introducing knowledge management in organisations involved in nuclear safety will be considered, the potential of knowledge management techniques assessed, and the connection between knowledge management and standards of safety discussed.
• Finally, some examples of successful application are highlighted.

2. BENEFIT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

In general, knowledge management is primarily mentioned in the context of the ageing workforce in the nuclear domain and the transfer of knowledge to the next generation.

It is common knowledge by now that in most of the countries operating nuclear power plants, an alternation of generations is taking place. In Germany for instance, no new reactors have been built since 1985, and personnel has been kept constant, but not significantly renewed, and is now approaching retirement age.

With the great uncertainties about the long-term future of nuclear power, it is difficult to attract people into the nuclear domain: particularly in countries where measures have been taken to terminate operations prior to the scheduled end of plant life or where a phase-out has been decided. Working in nuclear power has less prestige than in the past, the opportunities for education have been diminished, research programmes reduced.

However, it is important to recognise that this does not hold for the countries continuing construction and commissioning of new plants, mainly in Asia. The situation in Germany illuminates some of these problems in a bright light. Courses in the nuclear area are offered by only a few universities; the number of students with degrees dropped to almost zero in 2001. However, irrespective of the phase-out policy, the next decades will demand maintaining the competence in nuclear safety in order to meet the mandate of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations and waste disposal.

Accordingly, an “Alliance for Competence” has been established by the four major research establishments, with the aim of registering trends in development of employment and educational capacities, increased co-operation with universities and international initiatives, co-ordination of research programmes, promotion of qualified students, and co-operation in furthering international safety standards.

Similar initiatives have been established in many countries. First studies indicate that deficiencies in maintaining knowledge at state-of-the-art levels and a subsequent degradation in education and training of operating personnel may endanger the safe operation of nuclear installations. Furthermore, knowledge deficits at authorities and expert organisations due to a lack of qualified successors to retired experts have been depicted as an imminent threat to the qualified supervision of reactor plants and thereby to safe plant operation.

3. POTENTIAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

With knowledge retention and knowledge transfer being major topics in knowledge management, it is obvious that knowledge management methods offer significant contributions in trying to capture the knowledge of leaving experts and convert tacit knowledge into an explicit one. However, the scope of knowledge management has to be seen in a much broader context: in addition to maintaining knowledge, the continuously narrowing financial and personnel environment compels all organisations to establish a persistent knowledge management system, improving the allocation and use of the resource “knowledge” as well as the efficiency of everyday work.

From a knowledge perspective, an organisation will support and foster its explicit knowledge base, which often is addressed as the “corporate memory”, and the tacit or implicit knowledge of its experts. The main pillars supporting explicit knowledge are the management of the company’s documents and its information systems, which rely on information technology, and the business processes. Implicit knowledge is carried by the networks found in every company contributing to its development, and most prominently, by the people employed in the organisation, who should be motivated and involved by an exemplary management.

The establishment of a knowledge management system may account for these pillars in different ways. For information technology many companys provide corporate Portals or Intranets as access points to all information in the company. In general, the organisations operating in the nuclear field are strongly involved in national and international networks. Most of the organisations have started or have already accomplished constructing knowledge management systems as described above.

The consequential next step consists in introducing inter-organisational knowledge management methods. Knowledge-oriented organisations have the qualification to provide the cornerstones of a vision how the national and international networks should develop, sharing the enormous resources of documents, which today are duplicated in every organisation, allowing to find experts by common yellow pages, also setting up teams across organisations and providing state-of-the-art communication and collaboration facilities.

Ultimately, this is the basis for the overall goals of establishing, maintaining and further developing high standards of safety.

co-operation on topics such as knowledge mapping or document management, where bothHowever, first the foundations have to be laid in each organisation itself. To help them along this way, better information exchange on how organisations proceed in introducing knowledge management systems and methods is asked for, and guidelines should be provided. This conference is an excellent place to engage in these activities. In this regard, I would like to mention the co-operation between the IAEA and my company. The early experience at GRS helped along initially. The subsequent interchange has now evolved into will profit from each other’s lessons learnt.

A word of warning: knowledge management is not a panacea for all deficiencies of the past, and not the cure for all problems in the future. After all, knowledge management is a management principle; it may deliver transparency into knowledge processes. It may not reverse the demographic developments of the past, and it is not a political instrument in the discussion of the future of nuclear power. However, it is essential for maintaining high standards of safety.

4. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND STANDARDS OF SAFETY

The levels of safety reached today, reflected and codified in Safety Standards, are fruit of intensive co-operative efforts nationwide and internationally. They represent the state of the art, agreed upon in expert commissions and in regulatory work. By its nature, the evolution of standards of safety is a dynamic process which is developing over time.

Maintaining standards at a high level requires ongoing efforts which counteract the tendencies of decay. Further developments need efforts in excess. A predominant part of these activities is entirely knowledge-based, such as:

• Sharing of knowledge on relevant safety issues. This involves the discussions and exchange of information in working groups, the exchange of recent knowledge on specific topics, the definition of requirements for safety assessment methods, the discussion of cross-cutting issues by multi-disciplinary expert groups (for example the activities on safety margins), the definition of the state of the art, and collective opinions on key safety issues.
• A generation of new scientific information is entirely knowledge-based: the specification of primary research areas and experimental projects, analytical exercises such as benchmarks and international standards, and information collection on safety- relevant events and their evaluation.
• Also knowledge-based is the contribution to competence maintenance: transfer of information to countries with shrinking resources in nuclear safety research, training of young scientists through involvement in national and international research projects, and maintenance of unique experimental facilities and capabilities.
• Archiving and distributing information is entirely knowledge-based: document management on joint programmes, the management of experimental data, conducting seminars and conferences, and the release of reports to the public.

It is no coincidence at all that these topics are congruent with knowledge management and may be directly mapped to knowledge management methods. Putting it strongly, not minding overstating the case: knowledge management is at the heart of high-level safety. Again, as already mentioned before, this does not imply that many of the “knowledge-intensive processes” and many of the “knowledge management methods” are totally new inventions.

They often existed already but under a different label. Some examples shall illustrate knowledge management at work in different domains. The pressure on preserving and transferring knowledge has led to joint efforts at national and international level. In Germany, the “Alliance for Competence” mentioned before has been established; similar activities are recorded in other countries. Pooling education and training in a supranational structure is the aim of the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN). It has been initiated as a project of the European Union and continued by the ENEN Association as a Virtual European University. Its aim is the development of co-operative nuclear education in Europe. 18 universities from 17 countries are participating, offering courses ending with the European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. In 2003, the World Nuclear University WNU was founded with the support of the IAEA, the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD, the World Association of Nuclear Operators, and the World Nuclear Association.

Its mission consists in strengthening the international community of people and institutions so as to guide and further develop the safe and increasing use of nuclear power. With regard to knowledge networks, GRS is co-operating with the IAEA in a pioneer international project of a nuclear safety network to compile, analyse and share safety knowledge among Asian countries – the Asian Nuclear Safety Network, ANSN. A hub already established at GRS serves as a portal for access to German nuclear safety knowledge and experience in the ANSN. Experience emerging from this project will be most valuable for the further development and integration of safety networks in Germany. The ANSN will be discussed in other papers presented by the IAEA at this conference.

My company is involved in the European Network of Excellence for a Sustainable Integration of European Research on Severe Accident Phenomenology (SARNET) .Communication and collaboration of about 25 organisations and 200 participants is supported by advanced communication tools operated on our servers. The tools provide facilities to manage documents, discuss topics of common interest, organise the project’s work packages, search and retrieve information on different topics, and more. In the context of promoting co- operation on safety issues, the co-operation of several member states in the EUROSAFE initiative has to be mentioned.

In the field of regulation, the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) has been established as an association of the heads of nuclear regulatory authorities of Western European countries. This association pursues the development of a common approach to nuclear safety and regulation, in particular within the European Union, providing an independent capability to examine nuclear safety and regulation in candidate countries, and achieving a common approach to any arising nuclear safety and regulatory issues.

With regard to implementing knowledge management methods and systems in the organisations themselves, this conference will offer many insights into different approaches, describing the deployment of portals, document management, information systems, expert’s networks, and communities of practice, process-oriented knowledge management, skill databases, methods to collect tacit knowledge, and much more.

Source : www.iaea.org/km/cnkm/papers/germanylothar.pdf

Hal yang dapat di pelajari dari kasus di atas adalah . Manajemen pengetahuan dipandang sebagai sarana penting untuk mengatasi situasi ini. Situasi saat ini ditandai oleh masalah tenaga kerja  ,  kurangnya penerus dan kekurangan dalam pendidikan dan pelatihan serta bahaya bagi keselamatan operasi sistem nuklir Selain itu, pendekatan berbasis pengetahuan manajemen menawarkan potensi untuk meningkatkan efisiensi kerja sehari-hari tidak hanya dalam organisasi sendiri, tetapi juga dalam jaringan antar-organisasi .  selain itu , menurut saya pendekatan berorientasi pengetahuan dalam organisasi dan jaringan adalah suatu dasar yang baik untuk menjaga dan mengembangkan lebih lanjut standar keselamatan yang tinggi.