Rich McCue provides an interesting paper, Research in a Digital World - or - Personal Knowledge Management for Researchers, which uses the Memex idea of Vannevar Bush as a framework for the discussion. This could almost be summarized as "pay attention to your toolbox."
The increasing volume of digital information with which researchers' work is making the task of finding, capturing, organizing and eventually collaborating with digital data more difficult. Electronic information in multiple formats sitting in multiple silos of data present a challenge to researchers who have difficulty finding a specific piece of information in a timely fashion.
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Whether they realize it or not, most researchers are struggling with the mountains of digital data that they have accumulated during their careers. If shown the tools available to them to find, capture and collaborate, many, if not most, will start to use some of these knowledge management tools to increase their productivity and effectively manage and collaborate with their data.
McCue splits the problem space into two pieces, which I see as rather helpful: Information Management and Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration. From here, one can talk about the various tools and how they relate to each of these components. Filing systems, search tools, and many web apps are about information management. Collaboration is enabled by a different set of tools (as well as a willingness to actually collaborate!). Throughout the paper, McCue gives pointers on how a number of applications and services can be used by researchers to make their individual lives better AND result in better research and collaboration with others.