Vol. 2. No. 8 – 22 February 1999

Interesting Reading:

Here’s some articles, web sites, or books that I’ve found interesting.

  • Study Opportunity
    - The Next Generation Research Group, part of Arthur Andersen’s Knowledge Services, is launching a collaborative research study on communities of practice. Companies interested in having representatives on the research team should download the proposal on http://www.ngrg.com. Participation is limited to seven companies, and the study will kick off in mid-March with a COP workshop.
  • Letter to the Editor
    PC Week
    - I couldn’t resist putting in this link. You’ll have to scroll down to the reader responses about KM. Keep in mind that they are responding to a very technology focused piece on KM (http://www.zdnet.com-pcweek-stories-columns-0,4351,387747,00.html??? or see my comments here http://www.kmnews.com/News/kmnews01021999.htm) .  The comments by these PC Week readers for the most part are right on, especially the ones that point out that KM is (or at least should be) simply what companies do as a normal part of doing business. One person in the ecommerce area is very self serving in his comments, but has some valid points. I, like the authors am getting tired of the KM hype, but do acknowledge that the hype is making organizations more aware of the value within, and that true KM will provide bottom line benefits while being ‘invisible’ from day to day business processes.
    http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,389630,00.html
  • How to survive the buzzword blizzard
    PC Week
    - I chuckled when I read this piece. What’s a CIO, or C whatever to do when confronted with the buzzword of the day. On the one hand it’s great that CEO’s are paying attention to new process and technology trends, but on the other hand how can they be convinced that a portal isn’t any different than an existing Intranet system.
    http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1013948,00.html
  • Vendors, consortiums scramble to define standards for KM
    KMWorld
    - Will ‘standards’ stabilize of destabilize KM? There have been several consortiums created recently (or heightening their activities) focused on KM — Institute for KM from Lotus/IBM, Customer Support Consortium, and the Knowledge Management Consortium. I’m undecided on the ultimate value of these consortiums, and plan to keep my eye on their work, and you should to.
    http://www.kmworld.com/newestlibrary/1999/february99/vendors.cfm
  • Monsanto Hopes Buddy System Will Transform the Corporation
    Wall Street Journal — paid subscription required
    - By pairing finance or marketing experts with scientists, Monsanto is betting that they will have a leg up on their competition and in the process reshape their organization into a life sciences powerhouse. This is an incredibly cool idea, that really goes to the heart of collaboration and knowledge sharing. It could be risky without the right level of commitment by all parties, and support from within an organization, but I think the rewards could far outweigh the drawbacks.
    http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB919722577962514000.htm
  • Metadata is Monarch
    Intranet Design Magazine
    - Content is no longer king, it is the pointers to the content that are king. If that is true, and it appears to be, then that would mean that experts are no longer king, but those that know who the experts are…
    http://idm.internet.com/opinion/metamonarch.shtml
  • Learning is a competitive advantage at GM
    KMWorld
    - The director of learning organizations at GM makes an important point, “information sharing alone does not constitute knowledge sharing”. This is a key point we need to keep in mind and often overlook as we develop KM systems.
    http://www.kmworld.com/newestlibrary/1999/february99/learning.cfm
  • Making KM Pay Off
    CIO Magazine
    - Ignoring the politically correct global warming analogy, this is a good article that highlights ways around the typical response to KM — it’s just a fad. This article discussed the findings from a Teltech Resource Network study on the impact of KM on organizations.
    http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/021599_ic.html
KM Jobs & Links:
KM Career Opportunities and Links — let me know of any opportunities and I’ll post them here (and don’t forget to tell me when the positions are filled). An asterisks (*) denotes a new item.

Upcoming Events:
This is a list of events I’m interested in, and think you should be too. As I come across web sites that have detailed listings of events, I’ll post them here. An asterisks (*) denotes a new item.

Products/Tools:
I’ll try and point you to interesting products, tools, and companies that are dabbling in the KM space.

Info X-Ray from InfoRay
- Info X-Ray is a technology that is used by InfoRay products to create a “Business Data Portal” or view into multiple data sources. This view shows the relationships between the data in the various data sources without the need to create a single data architecture.
http://www.inforay.com

If you’ve seen or are using a cool and useful product that falls into the KM space (or close to it), let me know about it, I’ll include it here and you’ll get the credit for it.

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