Knowledge
management has the goal of creating knowledge by identifying patterns
and performing analysis, capturing knowledge, and making it available
to users when they need it. In other words, knowledge management is about
getting the right knowledge to the right people, at the right time, in
order to improve performance. In the past knowledge management was the
domain of filing clerks, librarians, and mentors within an organization.
Why
do we need technology for knowledge management? To find out,
let’s start with knowledge management without computing, using a binder
full of paper notes. Imagine taking the time to record all the knowledge
required for your organization. For instance, a neighborhood Chinese restaurant
could track the recipes for the dozens of dishes offered on the menu,
profiles of customers for takeout and home delivery, information on vendors,
and procedures for setting up the dining room for each meal. By the time
you recorded all the knowledge necessary for operating this business,
you would have enough documentation to help someone start a new restaurant
or, for that matter, a chain of restaurants.
Even
with all the knowledge recorded neatly in a binder, you might have difficulty
finding the answer to a question. A table of contents and an index would
help. If you wanted to find a word or phrase that was not indexed, however,
you would face the difficult task of reading each page one at a time until
you found it.
