While librarians and information professional are experts at providing resources to users, managing their own internal working knowledge and information can be a challenge. As information environments continue to become more complex, librarians and other information professionals must build on the existing expertise and skills within their organizations to keep them relevant to the information needs of their patrons and communities. Knowledge management (KM) is an intentional set of strategies intended to capture, preserve, and use human knowledge from employees to further the goals of an organization.
Knowledge Management: A Practical Guide for Librarians will help librarians recognize, organize, communicate, and leverage both the tacit and explicit knowledge already in their organizations for the benefit of themselves and their users.
Topics covered include:
- Why knowledge management is important in libraries and information organizations
- The knowledge management lifecycle: capturing, organizing, storing, sharing, and updating knowledge
- Capturing tacit and explicit knowledge and getting staff buy-in
- Tools and methods for recording and developing organizational information flow
- Facilitating the transfer of organizational knowledge and expertise
- Promoting knowledge innovation and learning
Knowledge Management is intended to help individual librarians and library managers in all library settings (academic, public, school, special, etc.) to think critically about their existing knowledge management environments with an eye toward improving existing procedures or implementing a KM program.
This guide will provide readers with basic background information and useful, targeted exercises and examples to help them develop knowledge management programs in their own organizations.
About the Author
Jennifer A. Bartlett is an assistant professor and the interim associate dean for teaching, learning, and research at the University of Kentucky Libraries. She has worked in academic and public libraries for over 20 years and focuses on public services, access services, and academic library management and administration. Since 2011, she has authored the
"New and Noteworthy" column in
Library Leadership and Management, the journal of ALA's Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) and is a book review columnist for the publication Online Searcher.
She is active in the Kentucky Library Association, the Special Libraries Association, and has also served as a member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Knowledge Management Standing Committee. She is the co-editor (with Spencer Acadia) of
Libraries that learn: Keys to Managing Organizational Knowledge (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2019).
Industry Reviews
Bartlett's Knowledge Management is a focused and rounded introduction to knowledge management (KM) for librarians and other information professionals. Covering the basics of KM, how KM plays out within an organization, as well as KM futures, this is a must read for anyone in LIS interested in KM theory and practice.
--Frank Cervone, executive director for Information Services, School of Public Health at University of Illinois Chicago and lecturer, San Jose State University School of Information
Providing just the right balance between theory and practice, this book is must-read for all librarians seeking to understand the importance of capturing and preserving organizational knowledge. The author provides meaningful, real-life examples and practical solutions showing how and why KM is needed in modern library and information environments. Many libraries struggle with how to collect, organize, and maintain internal data, information, and knowledge for the long-term. This book is an excellent starting point for transforming your library's stale knowledge now, one-and-done mindset to a dynamic now-and-later knowledge institution.
--Spencer Acadia, PhD, University of Denver, department of research methods and information science
This is a useful, well-written, and insightful look at knowledge management and how it can be applied in a library setting. There are exercises in every chapter that will help librarians and managers tackle the challenges presented by the overload of information that they face. Each chapter includes a summary of key points and references, and many include illustrations that help explain theoretical concepts. The book includes a glossary, a list of sources, and an index. Knowledge Management would be an appropriate purchase for all professional libraries.
-- "Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship"
