Knowledge from an app?

The Britannica and Merriam-Webster Apps for Windows 8. Knowledge at your fingertips?

Is it really?

Does the fact that it provides a multi-format, contextual experience make it a knowledge product or service or is it still just information that the reader is getting? Can you consume knowledge? I don't know - interested in others thoughts........

"With features like the Britannica Link Map, our goal was to provide an environment for users not just to consume knowledge, but to experience it, enjoy it, and make connections between related topics by gliding freely and easily from one to the next. For example, if you’re reading the article on Albert Einstein, you can click on Link Map and bring up a web of connections to phenomena such as relativity, space-time, the photoelectric effect, and the field of physics itself."

All sounds very cool but it reminds me of the question I ask myself every day - am I talking about information or knowledge? Through my uni study and in reading blogs, articles and books on knowledge management I have gained a greater understanding of the differences between data, information and knowledge (DIKW - data, information, knowledge, wisdom). However I also know that it is still debated and argued among the KM and IM professions among others, especially the information to knowledge part.

As I fulfil the role of an information manager (my predecessor's title) but my title is knowledge manager (first one in this org) this subject is dear to my heart. Is it just a fancy title they have given me to tick a box? Is the agency and (more importantly) it's leadership, really ready for Knowledge Management? How do I explain and demonstrate the difference and the benefits of good knowledge practise?

Do I actually do any knowledge management here or is it all really information management? My duty statement listed Gov2.0, web accessibility, FOI and records management compliance. These are all effectively IM duties and certainly it is sound information practises that are needed to get the systems and processes set up in order to move to the next level - KM. I can definitely see that KM is needed here. There is a distinct lack of responsibility in the overseeing of people, process, content and systems. Different teams or individuals introduce new systems or processes without consulting or informing others, bandaid solutions, lack of communication internally, lack of direction and clear procedures. We have silos, we have an upstairs and downstairs divide and we have people who are too busy! Many of these problems arise out of the size of the agency, it has worked this way for a long time, fairly successfully (or at least they have gotten away with it so far). Now it is growing, technology is changing, transparency and reporting requirements are increasing and we are becoming more accountable. Things need to change. There it is - change (is that what KM is going to be all about for me?)

Socks and knowledge

I read this blog post by Nick Milton today. He uses the analogy of the sock drawer and some images to demonstrate ways of managing content in a knowledge base. This resonates with me because I struggle to find a balance between the librarian in me (orderly, clearly titled documents, restricted structure and categories) and the focus on search as a better solution for finding randomly stored information (the mess represented in the first image).

Photo taken from Nick Miltons blog.

Nick is right - re-use is key in this debate. Project managers want to have all of their project information and knowledge in one place but our legal team want to be able to see all contracts for the agency in one place too. Do the contracts sit under the program area folders or in a Legal > Contracts folder.

I am thinking of our or electronic records management system (ERMS) at the moment, which is based on a Windows-like file structure. This structure is tight with limited ability for users to change names on files and create new ones. It works for some and not for others.

Some love the orderly approach and can find the info they need, especially the information they filed (because they thought about the detail BEFORE THEY FILED). Others don't understand why the system doesn't 'work' for them, in which they generally mean - it doesn't look like their own folder structure (folders called stuff, my stuff, more stuff etc). It takes time and some thought to work out where to save and find information and our ERMS search function is poor.

So, is it better to have a free for all, let people stick what they like, where, create folders, name folders and just provide a super dooper search function?

In our case I think the solution Nick Milton recommends and one that I agree with is a way of accessing all information around a topic (in our case a project) in one location. This becomes more of a knowledge solution - a knowledge base. For my agency this is likely to be based on SharePoint 2010.

Instead of having a folder under Legal for Contracts which holds all contracts for all projects in the agency, contracts would sit with the related project information (budgets, e-mail, presentations, agreements, publications, reports, contacts etc). It would tell a richer story around that project, provide access to reports, financials, research, people and background information. If all of the contracts are tagged as contracts a good search function should satisfy the legal and finance departments also?

Fine, I just have to work out how to do the records management, behind the scenes :-)

Work in progress and 2012 so far

Wow, a while between posts! A lot has happened this year so far and it is speeding by already.

• Agency's Information Publication Plan has been posted on our website as per the IPS requirements. 
• Information and Records Management Policy has been updated. Waiting for sign-off by CEO.
• Knowledge Management Strategy and plan completed.
• Risk assessment done on an internal project management system.
• Working groups set up for Intranet and internal project management system.
• Social Media up and running with great results.
• Reviewing Attorney-General's Consultation Paper on Extending Legal Deposit for impact on agency.
• Attended NAA's Digital Continuity Plan launch.
• Attended 3 day training on SharePoint @ DDLS
• Uni has just started again - Knowledge Management subject this semester! Reading lots!!
• On panel for current recruitment exercise
• Conducted two social media sessions for internal staff
• Involved in working group to implement smart forms for project applications
• Started compiling monthly analytics info from website
• Trialing Storify and other ways of archiving social media
• Attended an info session at NAA on new GRA 31
• Assisted external auditors in legislative compliance audit (FOI Act, Privacy Act and Archives Act)
• Had a week of leave (to do a bit of work on my house :-)
• Started discussions around a refresh or review of our external website
• Not so regular fortnightly Records Management team meetings (will get onto that)
• Took part in discussions around updating our internal Outlook distribution lists
• Attended first Corporate Managers meeting
• Attended several in-house 'brown bag' presentations
• Helped celebrate a colleague's 20 years with the agency
• Researching how to best conduct an Information or Knowledge Audit.
• Moved 100 Recall boxes of old registry files out of a compactus
• Completed an online survey which turned into an online article - needing corrections! Lesson learnt.
• Various updates to website, Intranet and social media channels
• Discussion around procedures and recording permissions and access to our EDRMS

Wowee! Good exercise to do, I used to do a similar thing as a report to my boss in my last job, weekly. This covers 2.5 months worth of work but is a good snapshot of what I do and am working on.

Record keeping

One of my first tasks in this new job has been to get my head around our records management systems and processes. The National Archives of Australia (NAA) has created an online assessment tool called Check-up and all government agencies have to submit their assessment by 30th September.

This really just involved talking to as many people as possible about how and when they use the systems and also about associated topics. The assessment asks about audits, business continuity plans, cabinet documents and other corporate governance areas. It was a good introduction to the agency as I learnt a lot while asking these questions.

Record keeping or records management (RM) has always been one of those neglected areas in government organisations from what I have seen. Coming from a law firm who had implemented a Document Management System attached to Outlook years ago, I was a bit amazed at how records were managed in the public sector. Obviously lawyers have different drivers for innovation (litigation, discovery, efficiency and cost savings). Now the NAA along with support from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) have introduced whole of government reforms and made this a function to notice (and resource)!

So our Check-up assessment is complete and I have been able to create a list of areas and tasks that my agency will need to look at over the coming year to ensure we have made some improvements by the next assessment date. This will help me to plan the resources I need and to prioritise what is the most important and realistic for our agency.

Has anyone else been involved in this process for their agency?