The Special Libraries Association has started its own Knowledge Management Division. Here is their description:
The Knowledge Management (KM) Division focuses on the characteristics and processes through which organizations facilitate the creation, sharing and use of knowledge.
The Division's approach to knowledge management is characterized by:
- an interest in all dimensions of knowledge as acquired and developed by members to be used for their organizations, including analysis and synthesis of this knowledge into tools for learning, using, developing and sharing through a variety of means including but not limited to documenting knowledge for later use.
- attention to all aspects of the knowledge lifecycle, including but not limited to knowledge creation, sharing, capture, organization, management, reuse, and preservation.
- innovative means to link and enable people to directly exchange ideas and learning to increase the relevant knowledge available for use in their organizations.
- concern for all aspects of an organization, including culture, policy, process, management and technology, that affect its ability to create and transfer knowledge.
- focus on techniques and tools for collaboration, for organizing knowledge repositories (e.g. taxonomies, ontologies), for demonstrating the economic value of KM activities, for promoting organizational learning techniques and applications; and for increasing understanding of knowledge economics.
- fostering networking and collaborating with all parts of the organization, including but not limited to information technology, human resources, research & development, document management and management, to facilitate a continuous learning environment and reduce knowledge hoarding.
The Knowledge Management Division offers broad-based programs, communications, and resources that enable participants to expand their competencies in implementing knowledge management in organizations of all types.
We involve information users and facilitators from across the landscape; corporate, academic, research, and service vendor populations. We envision a community of thinkers involved in using, designing, reviewing, and revising the existing techniques, tools and trends in this rapidly expanding and important domain.
If you are involved in knowledge management in any way or just want to learn more about the variety of processes and roles in this growing field, consider joining this new division.