Contents
1 Introduction
2 Namaste
3 Knol: contrasting perspectives
4 Delusion 2.0
5 KM 2.0 and Knowledge Management from Joe Firestone
6 IFLA Talk
7 People 2.0: Working in a 2.0 World
8 MAKE 2008 Finalists Announced
9 Jay Cross on Twitter
10 KM Event Highlights
11 My Upcoming Activities
12 Subscribing and Unsubscribing
13 The Gurteen Knowledge Letter
Introduction (top | next | prev)
In the last month, I have spoken at the IFLA conference in Quebec City and given a keynote talk at KM Brasil in Sao Paulo. While in Brasil I also ran a Knowledge Cafe workshop for Petrorbras in Rio de Janeiro for about 50 people. And oh yes also a knowledge cafe at ECKM 2008 in Southampton.
I find it strange when people talk about the death of KM as it is clearly thriving. In Brasil, there were 600 participants at the conference - mainly members of the Brazilian Knowledge Management Society and it was a very active lively event - even though I could not understand a word given most of it was in Portuguese - though Ana Neves of KMOL was also speaking and helped me out as translator.
And both IFLA (International Federation of Libraries Association) and SLA (Special Libraries Association) have thriving KM sections. If I look around the world there are many KM societies and associations - all the ones I have found I have linked to on my site.
I am happy to have recently helped kick off the Mumbai KM Community in India by doing a mail shot to my community in that city: 16 people attended the first meeting of which 5-6 heard about it via my e-mail. If I can help get your community going do let me know!
I will be on my travels again soon ... Oslo in a weeks time and then Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. All of which have their own indigenous KM networks. KM is far from dead!
Namaste (top | next | prev)
I always love to learn new things and often its the little things that excite me the most. When I am in Thailand I love the way people greet you by placing their hands together and giving a little bow and I started doing it myself although I did not fully appreciate the meaning or the tradition.
And then recently some one signed off their e-mail with the greeting: "Namaste". I was intrigued and went straight to Wikipedia to discern its meaning and was delighted with my find. Take a look at the 7 global meanings. Which one works best for you? For me its :
The precise meaning does not matter and I like it that the word can mean slightly different things to different people. Its the intent behind it that I so love."All that is best and highest in me greets/salutes all that is best and highest in you." or maybe "The Divinity within me perceives and adores the Divinity within you."
Namaste
Knol: contrasting perspectives (top | next | prev)
Some perspectives on Knol. An enthusiastic one from Ron Young: KNOL - a unit of knowledge from Google and less so from Dave Snowden: The reductionist knol and The controlling knol and from Danah Boyd : knol: content w/out context, collaboration, capital, or coruscation.
My opinion: I am in the Snowden and Boyd camp. Without any robust process to ensure the accuracy of the articles - the breadth of quality will vary from extremely good to total rubbish or articles published by people in order to promote themselves or their obscure point of view. And whilst, Wikipedia articles are alive - they are always being challenged and updated, Knol articles are pretty much dead once posted.
I understand Knol is different to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia whilst Knol is a library of articles but it still does not make up for the lack of screening or quality control.
Take a look at the articles on KM and draw your own conclusion. And in particular note this article - see the comment from Ron Young at the bottom and the author's reply!
Delusion 2.0 (top | next | prev)
Lucas McDonnell has some interesting comments on what I have to say on KM 2.0 and "2.0" in general.
I understand his concerns. I too was hesitant, at first, to apply the "2.0" moniker more widely to KM and other areas. But I have come to believe that although it all started with Web 2.0 and the new participatory technology and tools that it is not just about the technology and that we are moving to a "2.0 world" - a more participatory one.
I feel that far from devaluing the "2.0" concept - it expands it and makes it more powerful.
And of course I agree, 2.0 is not the answer to everything and brings as many new problems as it answers old ones. That's the nature of things!
Read my original article and Lucas McDonnells post and decide for yourself.
KM 2.0 and Knowledge Management from Joe Firestone (top | next | prev)
Joe Firestone has been writing for some weeks on KM 2.0 and Knowledge Management and is now on part eleven of his missive.
In his travels he looks at the views of many different people and so if you are looking for a comprehensive overview of the state of thinking on KM 2.0 then this series of posts is well worth the read.
In part eleven, he gets around to my views!
IFLA Talk (top | next | prev)
I gave a talk, well in fact two talks, back to back, to about 150 librarians at the IFLA conference (IFLA: The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) in Quebec City in early August. My first talk was KM2.0 KM goes Social and the second was a rerun of a talk I gave at actKM Conference in Canberra last year where I look at how I use social tools. You can find the slides in SlideShare.
My talks were the lead in to three shorter talks from Mary Lee Kennedy, Executive Director, Knowledge and Library Services (KLS), Harvard Business School; Moira Fraser, Parliamentary Librarian & Group Manager, Information & Knowledge, New Zealand Parliament and Patrick Danowski, Project Manager, Statsbibliotek su Berlin. All ably chaired by Jane Dysart.
We then broke out into a panel Q&A and discussion. There was a huge amount of interest in KM and social tools from the librarians in the room. I think everyone was pretty much trying to figure out how they could apply social tools in their own organizations. And of course the perennial question came up : "how do you measure the benefits of social tools?"
There were some answers from the panel but my answer was that there are basically two approaches: 1. Was the traditional - figure out your business outcomes and measure against those and 2. if you don't understand social tools and what they can do for you then there is no way you can measure the benefits. So experiment and pilot first. (There is a short article or blog posty brewing in my head on this!)
More on the IFLA conference: if you can read Dutch then a short article from Karolien Selhorst and a blog post from Jane Dysart on the Social KM and tools session. And some photos. Also IFLA has a very active KM Section.
People 2.0: Working in a 2.0 World (top | next | prev)
I recently gave a keynote talk at KM Brasil titled "People 2.0: Working in a 2.0 World". I only got to take a few photos but you will find them here though many more here.
Here is a description of the talk and the slides. If you have seen my KM 2.0: KM goes social presentation then you will recognize the early slides but fast forward and you will find the new stuff.
People 2.0: Working in a 2.0 World
David Gurteen, Gurteen Knowledge
KM and the world of work is on the brink of a profound transformation.
Driven by new technology, increasingly, we are no longer consumers: of goods, services or education - we are prosumers - we can now both produce and consume. We have the potential to be participants in everything and not the “victims”. The emerging 2.0 work place will reflect this and be a fundamentally participatory world.
We are moving from an organizational world where we were told to do things; where things were structured and planned for us to a world where managers and staff work more closely together to decide what to do and how to do it.
This has deep implications for KM and already we see a move towards Social KM or KM 2.0 where new social tools such as blogs and wikis put the power and responsibility for knowledge sharing in the hands of the individual.
But the real challenge is in people's mindsets - both managers and individuals. Managers need to stop trying to manipulate people and doing things to them and to take a more participatory approach. On the other hand, individuals need to open up and grasp the potential that the new tools and mindset offers them - to be more proactive; to take responsibility for their work; to innovative and to work in new ways. It’s about a change of mindset, attitudes and behaviors.
If the central question asked by managers in the KM 1.0 world was “How do we make people share?” the question of the KM 2.0 era is “How do we get things done by better sharing, learning and working together?” And is asked by everyone!
In this talk, David will explore what it means to live and work in a 2.0 business world; to be a 2.0 worker and indeed a 2.0 manager. And what we need to do to make it a reality.
MAKE 2008 Finalists Announced (top | next | prev)
Teleos, in association with The KNOW Network, has announced the 2008 regional Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE) Finalists:
2008 Asian MAKE Finalists
2008 European MAKE Finalists
2008 North American MAKE Finalists
Teleos will announce the 2008 regional MAKE Winners in October and release the list of 2008 Global MAKE Finalists in September.
Jay Cross on Twitter (top | next | prev)
Do you still not understand all the fuss over Twitter. Took me a while also but the penny has recently dropped for Jay Cross. See what he has to say.
Twitter provides an instant, real-time connection to the people you want to be connected to.
Credit:: Jay Cross
KM Event Highlights (top | next | prev)
This section highlights some of the major KM events taking place around the world in the coming months and ones in which I am actively involved. You will find a full list on my website where you can also subscribe to both regional e-mail alerts and RSS feeds which will keep you informed of new and upcoming events.
KMWorld & Intranets 2008
22 - 25 Sep 2008, San Jose, United States
I attended this conference in 2007 and hugely enjoyed it but I will not be attending in 2008 as it clashes with the KM Conference in Oslo at which I am keynoting.
Kunnskapstinget 2008
23 Sep 2008, Oslo, Norway
I will be giving a keynote talk at this conference.
The Effective Knowledge Worker
30 Sep 2008, London, United Kingdom
This workshop is proving very popular.
ebic 2008
01 - 03 Oct 2008, Berlin, Germany
Web 2.0: Practical Applications for Business Benefit
01 - 02 Oct 2008, London, United Kingdom
I am chairing this 2-day Web 2.0 conference for Unicom.
Could you stop using e-mail?
01 Oct 2008, London, United Kingdom
One of my rare London Knowledge Cafes.
KnowTech 2008
08 - 09 Oct 2008, Frankfurt, Germany
KM Singapore 2008
09 - 10 Oct 2008, Singapore City, Singapore
This is a great annual KM event but I will not be attending this year as I will be in Australia.
4th Annual Intranets and Knowledge Management Conference 2008
13 - 16 Oct 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa
actKM Conference 2008
14 - 15 Oct 2008, Canberra, Australia
I will be participating in this conference again this year.
The second annual Education Leaders Forum
22 - 23 Oct 2008, Christchurch, New Zealand
I will be speaking at this event.
ICKM 2008: Fifth International Conference on Knowledge Management
23 - 24 Oct 2008, Colombus, Ohio, United States
KM LatinAmerica 2008
27 - 31 Oct 2008, Buenos Aires, Argentina
KM India 2008
05 - 06 Nov 2008, Mumbai, India
Braintrust International 2008
18 - 20 Nov 2008, Orlando, United States
KM Asia 2008
25 - 27 Nov 2008, Singapore City, Singapore
I spoke at this conference and/or ran a workshop in 2003, 2006 and 2007 but will not be attending this year.
Online Information 2008
02 - 04 Dec 2008, London, United Kingdom
My Upcoming Activities (top | next | prev)
This section of my Knowledge Letter highlights my planned activities over the next six months or so. Its prime purpose is to allow you to know where I will be and to contact me if you would like to meet. I also use Dopplr to allow people to track my travlels more closely and to potentially meet up with me. You can see a list of my immediate activities below or a full list here.
Kunnskapstinget 2008
22 - 23 Sep 2008, Oslo, Norway
I will be giving a keynote talk & facilitating a Knowledge Cafe at this event
Australia Trip
06 - 24 Oct 2008, Canberra, Australia
I will be visiting Australia, New Zealand & Singapore from the 6th to 30th October
South Africa Trip
10 - 21 Nov 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
I am planning a two week trip to South Africa, the week of the 10th November
Subscribing and Unsubscribing (top | next | prev)
You may subscribe to this newsletter on my website. Or if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter or if you wish to modify your e-mail address or make other changes to your membership profile then please go to this page on my website.
The Gurteen Knowledge Letter (top | next | prev)
The Gurteen Knowledge-Letter is a free monthly e-mail based KM newsletter for Knowledge Workers. Its purpose is to help you better manage your knowledge and to stimulate thought and interest in such subjects as Knowledge Management, Learning, Creativity and the effective use of Internet technology. Archive copies are held on-line where you can register to receive the newsletter.
It is sponsored by the Knowledge Management Forum of the Henley Business School, Oxfordshire, England.
You may copy, reprint or forward all or part of this newsletter to friends, colleagues or customers, so long as any use is not for resale or profit and I am attributed. And if you have any queries please contact me.
David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
