个人知识管理定义集合2004-4-23 11:58:31 webassistant整理/KMCenter Dorsey Dorsey (2000)’s opinion is that “Personal Knowledge Management should be viewed as a set of ‘problem-solving skills that have both a logical or conceptual as well as physical or hands-on component.‘ These are skills that will be required for successful knowledge work in the twenty-first century.” Seven core PKM skills have been defined and they are 1. retrieving 2. evaluating/assessing 3. organising 4. analysing, 5. presenting 6. securing, and 7. collaborating around information (loc. cit.). The last skill (i.e. collaborating around information) has a technological aspect to it as it involves, among other things, skills needed to diligently handle E-mail, video conferencing and other types of collaboration systems. Hyams Hyams (2000), on the other hand, has developed the following list of PKM skills by focussing on a broader range of factors (e.g. time management as well as the infrastructural and organisational aspects of work) than the (predominantly) information aspect that Dorsey (2000) has adopted (see above): • Time control • Workplace wellness • Speedy reading, notation and research • Document structuring • Information design • Target writing • Processing infrastructure • Filtering techniques Skyrme A third set of PKM strategies has been outlined by Skyrme (1999)7. They have been further adapted based on the author’s experience and listed below: • Clarify one’s information needs • Develop a sourcing strategy • Decide on preferences for information to be “PUSHed” and “PULLed” • Decide on how and when to process information • Set criteria for what needs to be filed/saved • Create a personal filing system with a compatible structure to one’s work activities and areas of knowledge • Consider breaking up a piece of information and create indices for multiple purposes • Review the value and the index (or indices) of stored information on a regular basis Frand and Hixon Frand and Hixon (1999)’s three-tier approach to PKM covers both the skills and technological aspects. The basis of the approach is that firstly, one has to develop a mental map to depict the working knowledge. (Some researchers refer this as a ‘knowledge map’.) Secondly, an organisational structure needs to be created to facilitate the location of both personal and professional information. Thirdly, appropriate technologies are needed as organic/enabling tools to organise and extend the personal memory, as well as to synergise and process ideas for effective problem solving and decision making. In terms of filing information into a computer system8, three fundamental approaches (chronological, functional and rolebased) have been recommended and the pros and cons of these approaches have also been critically assessed (loc. cit) Even with the PKM skills as mentioned higher (which assist in the formulation of sourcing strategies, research skills, time management, filing and presentation techniques), IKWs (Individual Knowledge Workers) are still faced with enormous pressure to practice PKM. Reasons being in the new economy, knowledge workers constantly need to 1. Locate the right information quickly – the “strategic window” that allows a person (and the organisation too for that matter) to action on a piece of information or respond to an opportunity is rapidly decreasing. 2. Stay abreast with business and technology trends – this means that an IKW wants to receive only relevant information (and the context) in a timely manner. 3. Be constantly switching between learning and practicing – as knowledge work in the new economy is becoming more and more unstructured and unpredictable. 4. Create new knowledge and be innovative – merely reusing an existing solution is not a viable business strategy nowadays. Increased competition and advances in technologies have highlighted the need for knowledge workers to be creative/innovative i.e. combining existing knowledge to generate new business opportunities or a proven solution to one or more existing problems. 5. Maintain communications and build trust among peers – Knowledge workers need to understand the competencies, interests and needs of other peers. Knowledge workers should be both a collector and a sharer of knowledge. However, in practice, from the informational and technological perspectives, IKWs are faced with the following challenges in managing everyday knowledge: • Data, information and knowledge may come in a structured (e.g. database fields), semi-structured (e.g. texts and diagrams in an E-Mail message), or unstructured (e.g. handwritten note) form and in various formats (e.g. hard copy, video, picture, texts, voice message etc.). • As today’s knowledge workers often use multiple electronic devices for communications, planning and recording purposes, captured information may be stored, or even duplicated, on multiple locations and devices (e.g. laptop, desktop, home PC, PDA, voice recorder). Needless to say, this phenomenon leads to additional problems in keeping track of the latest/master version and in “re-composing” the original information. • It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to predict the arrival of a piece of Information. It may arrive at anytime (e.g. at work, at leisure, during travelling, at home, at study) • The sheer volume of the information that an IKW received every day – the “Infoglut problem” continues to get worse! • Despite knowing that the needed information may be stored in one or more of the electronic devices, it is often difficult to retrieve it. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, nearly all search and indexing tools are text-based and, as such, an exact (or near exact) match of the search term(s) is required in order to locate a piece of information. Contextual and background knowledge that accompany the original information are often not captured. Secondly, indices may not be truly “representative” (or “predictive”) as they are generated based on how the information was originally presented and not how it will be retrieved/re-applied (Tsui, 2000a) (Kaplan, 2000b). All of the above are difficult challenges. Many of these issues are currently being studied by researchers in the information systems, information retrieval and knowledge management (Tsui, 2000b) areas. WebAssistant is an innovative company active in creating Personal Knowledge Management systems.An example is my digital worldview.