An Investigation of a Knowledge Management Solution for the Improvement of Reference Services

Ralph, Lynette L.; Ellis, Tim

doi:10.28945/3365

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…A group of studies (see for example Townley, 2005;Yi, 2006;Ralph, 2008) reported that the use of KM in libraries may be extended to areas such as administration or support services, where libraries have had little impact in the past. In order to identify the potential areas of KM practice in Indian academic libraries, respondents were asked to indicate any combination of the five tentative areas listed.…”

Section: Rq: 2 Applications and Methods Of Km Practice In Academic LImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Lastres (2011), librarians have served as knowledge managers since the earliest days of libraries by maintaining the scrolls at the library of Alexandria and creating the catalogue for the House of Wisdom (a Ninth Century Islamic Library). Librarians have also developed and applied several KM principles in reference, cataloguing and other library services to encourage the use of knowledge (Ralph & Ellis, 2009). They have always performed roles as intermediaries between people who have knowledge and those who need to know (Sarrafzadeh et al, 2010).Thus, from this point of view, KM is not a new concept for librarians because they have been involved in the management of knowledge for a long time.…”

Section: The Concept Of Knowledge and Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a group of scholars who strongly argue that librarians, on the basis of their skills with information handling, can apply and incorporate KM practice in several areas of an academic library including administrative and support services (Townley, 2001;Yi, 2006), technical services (Ralph & Ellis, 2009;White, 2004), reference and information services (Gandhi, 2004;Jantz, 2001;Markgren, Ascher, Crow & Lougee-Heimer , 2004;Ralph & Ellis, 2009;Stover, 2004), knowledge resource management (Lee, 2005), resource sharing and networking (Jain, 2007) and use of information technology for the development of knowledge repositories (Lee, 2005). The logic behind the application of KM practice in libraries is that it can help librarians utilize their expertise for discovering, through reference interview skills, the information needs of users and then add value to information through such services as evaluation, prioritization and summarization, which is more relevant for those seeking to create new knowledge (Scwarzwalder, 1999;Sinotte, 2004).…”

Section: Application Of Km To Academic Librariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Librarians' perceptions of knowledge management in developing countries: A case with Indian academic libraries

Nazim

Mukherjee

2013

The International Information & Library Review

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The purpose of this paper is to examine librarians' perceptions of knowledge management, including its concept, potential applications, benefits and major challenges of its applications in Indian academic libraries. A structured questionnaire, containing both open and close-ended questions, was sent by postal mail to 30 librarians of academic libraries in India of which 15 questionnaires were returned. Respondents were asked to define knowledge management and answer questions on its potential applications, benefits and major challenges of the knowledge management applications in academic libraries. Respondents were also allowed to specify their own views on the subject. The findings of the study show that there is a minor difference in how librarians define knowledge management. However, most of them focus on the use of technology or specific processes for the capture and use of explicit knowledge, rather than sharing and using more intangible knowledge embedded in the employees. They have positive attitude towards the applications of knowledge management into academic library practice, and not only because this can bring academic libraries closer to their parent organization, but also because it may help them to survive in an increasingly challenging environment. Although, librarians in the present study acknowledged that they are involved in the practices of knowledge management, but these were perceived as basic information management activities. Lack of understanding of knowledge management concepts, knowledge sharing culture, top management interest, incentives and rewards, financial resources and information technology infrastructure are perceived as the major barriers for incorporating knowledge management into academic library practice. Highlights The term 'intangibles knowledge' has been replaced by 'tacit knowledge' as suggested. KM initiatives in India The full names of the research laboratory acronyms "CSIR, ICMR and ICAR" have written. Discussion Typographical errorsAll the typographical errors, which were pointed out, corrected accordingly. Detailed Response to ReviewersHighlights  Librarians' perceptions of KM in India are shallow dealing with the management of only explicit knowledge or information management rather sharing and using tacit knowledge embedded in employees.  Respondents of the study have positive attitude towards the applications of KM into academic library practice, and believe it can improve library operations and services and bring academic libraries closer to their parent organizations.  Librarians in India are mostly involved in applying IT-based solutions, either for the management of various library operations and services or the development of intranets and institutional repositories, but no evidence has emerged for involvement in the creation and sharing of tacit knowledge.

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Section: Rq: 2 Applications and Methods Of Km Practice In Academic LImentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Concept Of Knowledge and Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Application Of Km To Academic Librariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Librarians' perceptions of knowledge management in developing countries: A case with Indian academic libraries

Nazim

Mukherjee

2013

The International Information & Library Review

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“…At the time of publication, however, it was not accessible to external users due to concerns about privacy. Ralph and Ellis (2009) investigated the use of the QuestionPoint 1 knowledge base by member libraries. Through a survey, follow-up interviews, and unobtrusive observation, the authors discovered that the culture of the majority of the participant libraries did not support the knowledge base.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Knowledge Base as an Extension of Distance Learning Reference Service

Casey

2012

Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learn

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This study explores knowledge bases as extension of reference services for distance learners. Through a survey and follow-up interviews with distance learning librarians, this paper discusses their interest in creating and maintaining a knowledge base as a resource for reference services to distance learners. It also investigates their perceptions about the feasibility and practicality of a reference knowledge base. Primary findings indicate that the majority of participants view a knowledge base as an extension of distance learning reference services positively but see issues related to workload and quality control, in particular, which might hinder the development and maintenance of this type of repository.

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“…The role of librarians is to identify and organise information, sharing information resources and connecting people to the information they need (Townley, 2001), thus playing their roles as intermediaries between people who have knowledge and those who need it (Sarrafzadeh et al, 2010). Several KM principles have been evolved and applied by librarians in the provision of reference service, cataloguing of documents and other library services (Ralph and Ellis, 2009). Thus, from this perspective, KM is not a new concept for librarians but has a long history in library practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the need of knowledge management education within library and information science educational courses

Husain

Nazim

2015

New Library World

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Purpose – The study aims to explore the relevance of knowledge management (KM) education within library and information science (LIS) educational courses in India. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a quantitative research approach. A Web-based questionnaire survey was designed and distributed through FreeOnlineSurveys.com for the collection of data. A link for attending the survey was sent via electronic mail to the teachers (95 in numbers) of 65 LIS schools. A total of 43 responses (approximately 45 per cent) were received. Findings – The findings show that there is a strong interest among LIS community towards the inclusion of KM education within LIS educational courses to impart the knowledge and skills related to KM among LIS students, and to facilitate their entry into the KM job market. Most of the respondents believe that a curriculum which embodies core elements of LIS, management and information systems and technology would best meet the needs of LIS students for their involvement in KM activities. Practical implications – Findings of the present study may be used as the groundwork for the revision of current LIS educational courses as well as the revision of LIS curricula to impart the knowledge and skills-related to KM among LIS students for working in KM environment. Originality/value – As no empirical study on the relevance of KM education to LIS professionals in India has been carried out before, this study closes this gap and provides a framework to modify existing LIS courses or curricula to fulfil the requirement of KM competencies of LIS students.

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An Investigation of a Knowledge Management Solution for the Improvement of Reference Services

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Librarians' perceptions of knowledge management in developing countries: A case with Indian academic libraries

Librarians' perceptions of knowledge management in developing countries: A case with Indian academic libraries

The Knowledge Base as an Extension of Distance Learning Reference Service

Exploring the need of knowledge management education within library and information science educational courses

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