KnowledgeWise - References

This list presents a selection of references with high-quality information or unusual viewpoints, applicable to information organization or presentation, knowledge management, or related or interesting topics.

[Boyer9912a] XFDL: The Extensible Forms Description Language, John Boyer, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, December 99, page 86.

[Frye9911a] XML-EDI still has a way to go, Colleen Frye, Application Development Trends, November 99, page 29.

[Gartner9903a] Tomorrow’s Applications, Knowledge Management, March 99, page 34.

"Gartner Group’s prognosis for the next 10 years depicts range of uncertainty."

[Glass1998a] Software Runaways, Robert L. Glass, Prentice-Hall, 1998.

Useful lessons learned from anecdotal evidence and analysis of many recent medium and large runaway software projects.

[Goldratt1984a] The Goal, Elihu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, North River Press, 1984.

An outstanding presentation-by-example in novel form of: how to maintain awareness of the ultimate goals of an overall organization, how local optimization often defeats achieving larger goals, and how to strategize to achieve the larger goals while allowing local suboptimization

[Helzerman9903a] XML does for data what HTML does for display, Enterprise Development, March 1999, page 44.

[Holland9902a] DOs and DONTs for Effective KM, Dutch Holland, White Paper, Knowledge Management, February 1999, page 94.

[Horn1989a] Mapping Hyptertext, Robert E. Horn, The Lexington Institute, 1989.

Introduces the concepts of Information Mapping, a method of structured writing, and its application to the organization of information for hypertext and hypermedia. Provides insight into how to partition and present information for quick comprehension.

[IBM9901a] Knowledge Mapping, Advances in Knowledge Management (An IBM Report), Knowledge Management, January 1999, page 63.

[KM9901a] Process: Putting It in Practice, K-Map, part 4: The Process of Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management, January 1999, page 66.

Concise yet thorough treatment of the late 1998-early 1999 process of KM approach and implementation. The article presents both a summary of the approach, plus lists of practices and technologies.

[KMWorld9811a] Readers define KM’s strategic values, KMWorld, November 1998, pages 1//34.

Early survey results from 650 KMWorld readers.

[Lawton9902a] Building the New Knowledge Interface, George Lawton, , Knowledge Management, February 1999, page 45.

[Mendel9911a] Enterprise portals: Any portal in a storm?, Brett Mendel, KMWorld, November 22, 1999, pages 50+.

Detailed evaluation of 3 portal products.

[Monson9811a] The WIDL Specification, Lynn Monson, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, November 1998, page 92.

[Latting9911a] XML stumbling blocks, Michael Latting and Martin LaMonica, Infoworld, November 22, 1999, pages 34-35.

[Lawton9902a] Building the New Knowledge Interface, George Lawton, , Knowledge Management, February 1999, page 45.

[Lipman1999a] Hot Groups: Seeding Them, Feeding Them, & Using Them to Ignite Your Organization, Jean Lipman-Blumen and Harold J. Leavitt, Oxford Unversity Press, 1999.

Hot groups are dedicated towards a goal, energetic, nonbureaucratic, and operate with urgency and passion. They abound with shared knowledge. This book describes hot groups, with plentiful examples and anecdotes.

[O’Connor9902a] Six Keys to the Knowledge Domain, White Paper, Mark O’Connor, Knowledge Management, February 1999, page 86. O’Connor is with the Yankee Group.

Describes six categories of a KM taxonomy, with five to eleven detailed subcategories for each, and useful lists of six to sixteen leading KM vendors for each.

Comment: This may not be a KM "taxonomy" as generally understood. Even if it is, it somewhat "fuzzier" at first reading than others.

[O’Dell98] If Only We Knew What We Know, Carla O’Dell and C. Jackson Grayson, Jr., with Nilly Essaides, The Free Press, 1998. O’Dell and Grayson are with the American Productivity and Quality Center.

An excellent presentation of: a framework for knowledge transfer within an organization; a discussion of the three value propositions for an organization, one or more of which will prioritize its activities; and a discussion of factors that enable knowledge transfer. Key concepts include:

Knowledge Transfer Process steps: Create – Identify – Collect – Organize – Share – Adapt – Use (- and back to Create) [page 7].

Organizational capabilities supporting transfer: process improvement orientation; common methodology for improvement and change; ability to work effectively in teams; ability to capture learnings; technology to support cataloguing and collaboration [page 75].

Design lessons: Establish [technological] standards; match the KM system with the KM objectives; create a structure for classifying knowledge; heavily market you transfer applications and ensure they meet users’ needs; remain flexible; maintain a pragmatic vs. a perfectionist approach; keep people first (KM is inherently people-based); measure the impact of Knowledge Management [page 103].

Six barriers to knowledge transfer [see page 108].

Enduring principles [see page 223].

[Prusak9901a] Know what you know, Larry Prusak, Working Knowledge inteview with Stuart Silverberg, Knowledge Management, January 1999, page 34.

[Roberts-Witt9901a] Practical Taxonomies, Sarah L. Roberts-Witt, Knowledge Management, January 1999, p 47.

[Ruby9901a] Tip for Taxonomists: Keep It Simple, Stupid, Dan Ruby, Knowledge Management, January 1999, page 8.

[Senge1990a] The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter M. Senge, DoubleDay, 1990.

The first four disciplines are: personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning. The fifth discipline is systems thinking, the one that performs the essential function of integrating the other four.

[Stewart1997a] Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations, Thomas A. Stewart, Doubleday / Currency, 1997.

Presents as context the concepts of the knowledge economy, the knowledge company, and the knowledge worker; then explores intellectual capital as the content, including a useful exposition of knowledge management.

[Taylor1990a] Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide, David A. Taylor, Servio Corporation, 1990.

An excellent overview of the approaches and benefits of object-oriented technology. Aimed at nontechnical readers, it provides an introduction of the overall principles that is useful even for technology types.

[Tufte1983a]
[Tufte1990a]
[Tufte1997a] Edward R. Tufte:
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information,
Envisioning Information; and
Visual Explanations; Graphics Press.

An outstanding and visually exciting series, providing examples of how various types and summaries of information can be best presented for differing purposes and maximum clarity.

[Vizard9903a] Web architectures rule future development, Michael Vizard, InfoWorld, 22 March 1999, page 5.

[Vizard9903b] IBM sharpens its tools – XML plays bigger role, Michael Vizard, InfoWorld, 22 March 1999, page 1.

"Currently, the only way developers can invoke [IBM’s CICS, MQSeries, and Transarc Lab middleware] is through either their existing set of complex native interfaces or by writing an application that makes use of JavaBeans. … XML offers a way for IBM to open middleware services to developers versed in HTML, rather than Java programming or the intricacies of low-level APIs, according to [Steve] Mills [general manager of IBM’s Software Solutions division]."

" ‘What customers are looking for is simplification. They want the system to automatically understand the transaction semantics that are coming in and choose the right execution path so the administrators spend less time in setup and it becomes more transparent.’ said Steve Mills. … According to Mills, the company will also utilize XML to help integrate disparate middleware offerings by making use of XML tabs to map functions across those environments."

"Opening access to IBM middleware services via XML promises to speed up and bring down the cost of development projects, according to Martin Marshall, an analyst at Zona Research."

[Yates9902a] Sources of the Y2K Problem, JoAnne Yates, Knowledge Management, February 1999, page 100. Yates is associate professor at the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

This article describes how the content limitations of the original 45-column and 80-column Hollerith cards initiated the practice of 2-digit years, which continued in the 50s and 60s, culminating in the 1990s Y2K problem. A lesson to be learned is: "Importing existing practices into new technology is a common pattern in human activity … When we move to new technological platforms, however, we ought to examine old practices explicitly and carefully before embedding them in the new technology."