A while back, Emil Hajric (@emilhajric) from Helpjuice sent me a reference guide he had written on KM Systems and Practices, and which he was making freely available as an E-Book from the Helpjuice website. It was a busy period in my life and I was only able to do a quick scan of the content, but enough to realise this was a significant contribution to the body of literature on the esoteric topic of “KM”.
I’ve since had more time to properly review the content, and to confirm my my initial perception that this is a substantial reference guide for anyone involved or interested in KM. The content is suitable described by the Introduction, as follows:
This is a knowledge management book covering the theories, frameworks, models, tools, and supporting disciplines that are relevant to both the student and the practitioner. The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of knowledge management by examining its objectives, scope, strategy, best practices, knowledge management tools, and so on. The book is structured very much like a textbook, with introductory concepts at the top, more subject-specific discussions in the latter half.
I’ve read many KM books during my professional career, most of which I’ve paid for, and I’ve studied the topic as a student, with certification from the Knowledge Management Institute, but I can honestly say this is the most complete reference guide I’ve come across. Readability is helped by the fact that it is written by a practitioner and not an academic or theorist, though there are adequate citations and references to academic research if the reader wishes to take a deeper dive into any of the topics.
There are sections on the emotive issue of ‘Information Management’ vs. ‘Knowledge Management’, Knowledge Organization, Organizational Learning, Explicit and Tacit Knowledge, Knowledge Repositories, the SECI model and much, much more. If I have one minor criticism, the section on “Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 and Knowledge Management 2.0” is a little dated. I think we’ve moved away from giving these topics some sort of hierarchical numbering system.
It’s a must-read for anyone starting their KM journey and essential reference for KM practitioners. I don’t know how long Emil intends making this available as a freely downloadable E-Book, but I’d grab a copy now, before it disappears behind a paywall!
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