How library practitioners view knowledge management in libraries

Abstract

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to explore library practitioners' views of knowledge management (KM) and its incorporation into library practice.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the review of literature available in secondary sources, and the result of interviews of ten library practitioners worldwide. The respondents are purposively selected from the participants' lists of two international conferences held in 2008. The interviews were conducted through e‐mail using a short, structured, and open‐ended questionnaire.FindingsThe ways of knowing and degrees of understanding of KM concepts among the library practitioners are varied. But the most library practitioners have focused on a shallow perception of KM for its incorporation into library practice – dealing with only explicit information and/or knowledge. This study also finds some of the reasons for responding to KM, e.g. increasing value of knowledge in the knowledge economy, role of information technologies, opportunities for improved library practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited in its scope, conducting interviews of only ten library practitioners worldwide, and hence, generalization may not be derived from the findings.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that library practitioners need to broaden their understanding, change their traditional mindset, and to apply a holistic approach of KM system design and library practice, focusing on both explicit and tacit knowledge.Originality/valueThe paper investigates the original views of library practitioners regarding KM in libraries.

An Empirical Study of Knowledge Management in University Libraries in SADC Countries

“…KM is a strategic tool to manage the ever-changing library users needs". These developments are in line with what Roknuzzaman & Umemoto (2009) have suggested that library practitioners need to broaden their understanding, change traditional mindset, and to apply a holistic approach www.intechopen.com of KM system design and library practice focusing on both explicit and tacit knowledge. The following section further puts forward participants' understanding of the KM concept.…”

“…The KM literature (Jain, 2007, Raja, Ahmad, Sinha, 2009, Roknuzzaman & Umemoto, 2009, Guru et al, 2009 Roknuzzaman & Umemoto (2009), generally the junior staff are reluctant to share their knowledge and ideas with their seniors, because they feel that there is no benefit of it. Traditionally librarians were not used to working with IT departments, however due to the emergence of the digital age and knowledge economy today librarians have to work hand-in hand with IT experts.…”

“…To surmount budget constraints: Academic libraries are always constrained with budget declines. As noted by (Roknuzzaman & Umemoto, 2009), many libraries suffer from shrinkage of budget and skilled human resources, two of the important factors for any KM project. KM equips academic libraries with abilities to produce more with less and reduces duplication of efforts, for example, using online reference services, a reference librarian can serve multiple users in one time, which is cost and time effective.…”

“…Hence, Debowski (2006) (Roknuzzaman & Umemoto, 2009). Due to the rapid advancement in information technology and changing needs of customers, there is an increased need for a more improved approach to library service delivery at the academic libraries.…”

“…It is indeed important to practice KM to deal with the rapid knowledge decay to serve the users with the right knowledge at the right time and avoid sifting through decayed and obsolete knowledge. This requires academic librarians to renovate the existing library environment and promote a knowledge-sharing culture by initiating communities of practice, management of best practices, change management, organizational learning, and use of appropriate knowledge-sharing technologies (Roknuzzaman & Umemoto, 2009). KM systems emphasize continuous update and maintenance of knowledge in order to manage rapid knowledge decay.…”