Personal knowledge management through communicatingRachel Jones
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951186
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to emphasise the importance of a complex view of communication for the development of personal knowledge management (PKM) and for the technology that supports PKM. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper uses complex responsive process theory (CRP) to understand the communication and knowing processes that underpin PKM. Findings – PKM could potentially avoid some of the problems of knowledge management by being open to interdisciplinarity. This paper introduces a theory that sees communication as a complex, adaptive process of relating. Applying CRP to PKM, this paper suggests how web and internet technology might support individuals in managing their knowing and communicating processes, as well as their accumulation of knowledge and information. Practical implications – Understanding knowing and communicating as a complex process of relating offers a fresh perspective on the way that organisations might support PKM. Originality/value – This paper offers a new way of thinking about PKM by introducing CRP's view of communication and how it relates to knowledge. In doing so it provides information scholars with ideas outside of their typical paradigm that invite a reconsideration of the role of technology in PKM.
Personalising organisational knowledge and organisationalising personal knowledgeZuopeng (Justin) Zhang
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951195
Purpose – This paper aims to study the relationship between personal knowledge management (PKM) and organisational knowledge management (OKM). Design/methodology/approach – Based on the proposed framework of PKM and OKM, the author has analytically modelled and studied the strategies of linking the two to manage personal knowledge for organisational purposes. Findings – Applying a framework categorising PKM and OKM from two dimensions – knowledge properties and management perspectives – the author proposes the strategies of personalising organisational knowledge (POK) and organisationalising personal knowledge (OPK) as the effective linkage between PKM and OKM. Integrating a knowledge management system (KMS) into the framework, the author determines the optimal level of KMS in facilitating the implementation of POK and OPK strategies. Research limitations/implications – Future research may relax some of the assumptions and empirically verify the analytical results. Practical implications – The research provides guidelines for matching investments in information technology with appropriate knowledge management strategies. Originality/value – With a unique approach, the paper contributes to the missing link between PKM and OKM.
Crossings Embedding personal professional knowledge in a complex online community environmentJocelyn Cranefield; Pak Yoong
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951203
Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how online communities of practice facilitate the embedding of personal professional knowledge in a complex online environment. Design/methodology/approach – This research consisted of exploratory, interpretivist case research, using qualitative methods. Forty‐one individuals from five online communities in a national professional development programme were interviewed. Additional data were drawn from diverse online records. Data were coded via text analysis. A wiki was used for participant feedback. Findings – Embedding of new knowledge was facilitated by individuals' crossings between different engagement spaces – communication and sense‐making contexts. Community members repeatedly crossed between online and offline, visible and invisible, formal and informal, and reflective and active engagement spaces as they sought to meet diverse needs. As they did this, they had to continually recontextualise knowledge, adapting, varying and personalising it to fit the function, genre and conventions of each engagement space. This promoted the embedding of professional knowledge. The complex online environment in which they operated can be seen as providing a situation of enhanced polycontextuality, within which multiple boundary crossings facilitated strong personalisation. At the community level, knowledge convergence was fostered by the recurrence of dominant, powerful mnemonic themes. Research limitations/implications – An opportunity exists to investigate the applicability of these findings in other online professional contexts. Originality/value – The paper extends the concept of boundary crossing to crossings in a polycontextual online environment. It updates literature on communities of practice by outlining the dynamics of a complex online community system. It provides an explanation for how personal knowledge evolves to fit emerging trends and considers how information systems can support deep knowledge transfer.
Developing Connectivity: a PKM path for higher education workplace learnersBlanca C. Garcia
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951212
Purpose – Adopting a personal knowledge management (PKM) scope, this paper aims to report the resulting experience of a four‐year qualitative research project on the dynamics of social skills development strategies in knowledge‐intensive, e‐learning workplace environments. Design/methodology/approach – By adopting a grounded encased study approach, the research explored how practitioners develop strategies for adapting to emerging e‐learning spaces while developing networking skills. The encased study stemmed from research completed at the University of Manchester. The study aimed to gain perspectives and make sense of social skills development (communication, networking and collaboration skills) in the particular setting of knowledge facilitation within virtual environments in three universities of the Manchester city region. Findings – The personal lifelong learning journey that educational and academic staff undertake in order to become skilled knowledge facilitators online is perceived and represented as a full learning cycle of multiple dimensions. Also, by identifying specific roles of knowledge facilitators according to context, the existing institutional social systems and city networks of learning were made evident in the practitioners' learning scope within their own institutions and beyond. Originality/value – The paper uses a multiple‐layer, third‐generation knowledge management framework to explore the different emerging roles of knowledge workers in knowledge‐intensive communities online, and how they facilitate multiple tacit knowledge conversion into explicit scholarly knowledge.
Conceptual data structures for personal knowledge managementMax Völkel; Heiko Haller
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951221
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to design a model and tools that are capable of representing and handling personal knowledge in different degrees of structuredness and formalisation, and usable and extensible by end‐users. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the results of analysing literature and various data models and formalisms used to structure information on the desktop. Findings – The unified data model (CDS) is capable of representing structures from various information tools, including documents, file systems, hypertext, tagging and mind maps. The five knowledge axes of CDS are identity, order, hierarchy, annotation and linking. Research limitations/implications – The CDS model is based on text. Extensions for multimedia annotations have not been investigated. Practical implications – Future personal knowledge management (PKM) tools should take the mentioned shortcoming of existing PKM tools into account. Implementing the CDS model can be a way to make PKM tools interoperable. Originality/value – This paper presents research combining cognitive psychology, personal knowledge management and semantic web technologies. The CDS model provides a way to let end‐users work on different levels of granularity and different levels of formality in one environment.
Predictors of diverse usage behaviour towards personal knowledge management systemsHer‐Sen Doong; Hui‐Chih Wang
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951230
Purpose – This paper aims to argue that individuals' use of personal knowledge management systems (PKMS) differs significantly as a result of their underlying innovativeness and involvement traits. Based on the literature, this paper seeks to propose that while more involved users utilise PKMS more frequently, more‐innovative users utilise more functions of PKMS. Design/methodology/approach – A field survey was conducted to collect data. Correlation techniques and regression analysis were used to test the proposed relationship between constructs. Findings – The findings indicated that while both traits were significantly associated with PKMS usage behaviours, users' involvement was the primary predictor of PKMS use frequency, while users' innovativeness predominated in the prediction of the number of PKMS functions they used. That is, although more involved users may use fewer functions compared with more innovative users, they are more likely to become long‐term supporters of PKMS because their use frequency is significantly higher than that of more innovative users. Practical implications – The paper informs scholars and managers that using a single approach – that is, only using frequency or the number of functions used – to evaluate the performance of a PKMS may lead to a biased result. Originality/value – After half a century of development of information technology, this paper addresses the importance of taking a step further and verifying the behaviours related to the use of PKMS with different approaches, such as use frequency and the number of functions used. In particular, the paper presents a pioneering piece of research in the information systems discipline, revealing that individuals' underlying innovativeness and involvement contribute to different PKMS use behaviours.
The effective use of technology in personal knowledge management A framework of skills, tools and user contextRaj Agnihotri; Marvin D. Troutt
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951249
Purpose – The objective of this paper is to further explore the emerging concept of personal knowledge management (PKM) and to bring researchers’ attention to this notion. Specifically, this paper aims to address issues related to the effective utilisation of technology in PKM practices. Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical framework incorporating PKM skills, technology tools, user context and skills‐tools fit is proposed. Arguments are built on the task‐technology fit theory, which explores the link between technology tools and task characteristics (PKM skills). Findings – The impact of effective PKM will depend increasingly on skills‐tools fit. Practical implications – The success of technology utilisation resides not simply in whether individuals use technology, but if this usage actually improves effectiveness. For their own benefit, individuals should consider and assess the technology tools in the context of how they will be aligned with specific PKM skills. Originality/value – Proposing a conceptual framework of PKM, this paper suggests that the core focus is individual inquest, that is, the effort to discover, share, learn and explore through combinations of technology and information skills. The importance of the user's context in the PKM process is also discussed
Establishing business integrity in an online environment An examination of New Zealand web site privacy noticesTony Hooper; Marta Vos
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951258
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which New Zealand business web sites conform to the provisions of the New Zealand Privacy Act, 1993 as an articulation of the national values on the rights of individuals to information privacy. The secondary aim is to assess whether adherence to these values might be used as criteria that can reflect on the business integrity of the web site sponsor. Design/methodology/approach – The privacy notices and information‐handling practices of New Zealand business web sites were analysed using a content analysis methodology. The analysis was carried out on a sample of 200 companies, selected at random from a published list of the top 800 companies in New Zealand in 2005. Government web sites were excluded. Findings – The first research hypothesis – that New Zealand business web sites demonstrate awareness of the privacy concerns of customers by posting a privacy notice – was not supported. Similarly, the privacy notices on New Zealand business web sites did not reflect the principles of the New Zealand Privacy Act, 1993 as a basis for establishing “value congruence” with customers. Consequently the use of the principles of the Privacy Act to assess business integrity was not demonstrated sufficiently by the investigation. Practical implications – The lack of a usable convention for evaluating privacy notices on New Zealand business web sites may lead to a loss of value congruence between businesses and their customers, leading to less‐than‐optimal commercial transactions. The principles of the New Zealand Privacy Act 1993 define the national values and privacy rights of online customers. The use of the Privacy Act to assess the information handling practices of New Zealand businesses online could ensure more ethical business practice, demonstrate business integrity and promote customer confidence. Originality/value – The use of legislated privacy principles as a reflection of established national values on the rights of citizens could provide a useful measure of value congruence and possibly business integrity. The variety of privacy legislation worldwide reflects a global lack of agreement on acceptable principles. Nevertheless, businesses wishing to establish their integrity and value congruence would be advised to ensure that their web sites provide for the growing sensitivity to privacy issues and the way that personal information is gathered and used online.
Increasing the authoritativeness of web recommendations using PageRank‐based approachesWan‐Shiou Yang; Yuan‐Shuenn Jan
2009 Online Information Review
doi: 10.1108/14684520910951267
Purpose – Web content has been widely used for recommending personal webpages. Despite its popularity, the content‐based approach regards a webpage simply as a piece of text, thereby often resulting in less authoritative recommendations of webpages. This paper aims to propose novel approaches that utilise other sources of information pertaining to webpages to facilitate the automatic construction of an authoritative web recommender system. Design/methodology/approach – In this research, four approaches that exploit hyperlink structure, web content and web‐usage logs for making recommendations are proposed. The proposed approaches have been implemented as a prototype system, called the authoritative web recommender (AWR) system. An evaluation using the web‐usage logs and the corresponding pages of a university web site was performed. Findings – The results from the evaluations using empirical data demonstrate that the four proposed approaches outperform the traditional content‐only approach. Originality/value – This paper describes a novel way to combine information retrieval, usage mining and hyperlink structure analysis techniques to find relevant and authoritative webpages for recommendation.