320 likes | 456 Views
Knowledge Architecture People Designing a Knowledge Architecture Department. Tom Reamy Chief Knowledge Architect KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com. Agenda. Introduction: What is Knowledge Architecture? KA Roles and Functions
E N D
Knowledge Architecture PeopleDesigning a Knowledge Architecture Department Tom ReamyChief Knowledge Architect KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com
Agenda • Introduction: What is Knowledge Architecture? • KA Roles and Functions • Skills and Backgrounds • Tools and Technology • Services and Partners • Knowledge Architecture Real Life Example • Organization and Location of the KA Team
Introduction: What is Knowledge Architecture? • The people, processes, and technology of designing, implementing, and applying the intellectual infrastructure of organizations. • What is an intellectual infrastructure? • The poor neglected cousin of technology and organizational infrastructures • It is just the set of activities that deal with creating, capturing, organizing, visualizing, presenting, utilizing, understanding, the information part of the information age.
Knowledge Architecture • Information + Contexts = Knowledge • Information Architecture + Infrastructure of Contexts = Knowledge Architecture • Content Contexts • Structured views • Personal / Community Contexts • Personalization, Virtual and real communities • Activity Contexts • Knowledge workers and embedded knowledge structures • Smart Applications
Roles and Functions • Chief Knowledge Architect • Knowledge Analysts • Knowledge Engineers • Knowledge Facilitators • Knowledge Managers • Additional Roles: Supplementary and Support
Chief Knowledge Architect • Work with Chief Knowledge Officer • Build a Knowledge Culture • Advocate, Evangelize • Design & lead integration of all the elements of the Intellectual infrastructure of the Enterprise • Design measurement and analytics of KM in organization • Define and lead the KA Team • Research New Ideas and Technologies • Personas, Stories, Semantic Web and RDF, Cognitive Anthropology, Complexity Theory
Knowledge Analysts • Corporate Librarians + • Content Specialists • Knowledge Organization Structures • Taxonomies, Classification Schemas • Metadata and controlled vocabularies • Search and Categorization Software • Organization of people and activities • Tacit Knowledge structures • Living map of communities and information needs
Knowledge Engineers • User and task specialist • Information Architect+ • Collect, analyze, organize tacit knowledge • Interview users, focus groups, persona • Ethnographic studies • Work with Business Analysts
Knowledge Facilitators • Establish connections between individuals to facilitate knowledge transfer • Facilitate explicit knowledge transfer • Train people to incorporate KM • Understand the information needs of individuals and communities and work with them to achieve business goals. • Incorporate KM into chat groups, story telling, email, collaboration and innovation efforts.
Knowledge Managers • Project Management+ • Capture the knowledge generated in a project • Develop knowledge sharing practices • Capture Best Practices • Provide training and leadership on projects • Moderate Communities of Practice
Additional Roles: Supplementary & Support • Information Architects • Develop information navigation systems • Usability, user research • Web Design • User oriented web sites • Prototype IA designs • Business Analysts, Project managers • E-Learning • Performance Support, Learning Objects
Skills: Backgrounds • Interdisciplinary, Generalists, Idea and People people • Library Science, Information Architecture • Anthropology, Cognitive Science • Learning, Education, History of Ideas • Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics • Business Intelligence, Database Administration
Tools and Technology: Used by the KA Team • Categorization, Unstructured Data Management • Search Engines • Analytics – usage, language and activity • Important to use the information tools of the company • Collaboration, ideas databases, content management, etc. • Polls and surveys • Spreadsheets • Brains
Knowledge Architecture Partners • IT Applications and System • Implementation and Evaluation • Corporate Communication, HR • Training • Practical projects and theory – Learning Objects • Research Departments
Knowledge Architecture Services • Knowledge Architecture Audit • Knowledge Creating • Innovation, E-learning • Content Management • Taxonomic Model, Distributed Categorization • Knowledge Sharing / Transmission • Collaboration, Retrieval – content and experts • Knowledge Using • Smart Applications, CRM. Portals • Data warehouse, text mining, business intelligence
Knowledge Architecture Services • Application of Intellectual infrastructure • People – even Amazon is moving away from automated recommendations • Facilitate projects, KM Project teams • Core group of consultants and K managers • Facilitate knowledge capture in meetings • Answering online questions, facilitating online discussions, networking within a community • Design and run forums, education fairs, etc.
Knowledge Architecture Services • Infrastructure Activities • Integrate taxonomy across the company • Content, communities, activities • Design content repositories, update and adapt categorization • Package knowledge into K objects, combine with stories, learning histories • Metrics and Measurement – analyze and enhance • Knowledge Architecture Audit • Enterprise wide • Project scale
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • A set of reports, catalogs, recommendations, and components characterizing the current state of an organization’s intellectual infrastructure. • A foundation and planning document for improving the intellectual health of the organization by incorporating knowledge architecture into a range of projects. • Can be done in a little as two days, five days, or 10 days • And for the rest of your life.
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Preliminary Information Gathering • CKA – design approach, identify people, work with primary project owners • Knowledge Analyst – catalog content repositories, high level characterization, identify content issues • Knowledge Engineer – identify representative sets of people to interview and study, select set of approaches • Knowledge Facilitator – gather available documentation • Knowledge Manager – arrange interviews, meetings
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Stakeholder Interviews • CKA, knowledge engineers, business analysts: • executive sponsors, steering committees, content owners, publishers, technical and business support teams, representative user groups, and others. • Map the strategic landscape • Map and engage components of the process and procedures of information creation and application
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Content Repository Catalog • Knowledge Analyst • Structured and unstructured content repositories • Source, publishers and authors, procedures – where add structure • Metadata, vocabularies, taxonomies, dictionaries (formal and informal – users) • Taxonomy and metadata Evaluation
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Community Catalog • Knowledge Engineer • Formal and informal communities • Virtual and Real communities • Type – collaboration, communication, etc. • Business functions • Internal and external communication channels • Primary and secondary content repositories
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • User and Task Analysis • Knowledge Engineer, Facilitator • Usability plus information behaviors • Frequency and depth of access • Known item, research, activity • Interviews, focus groups, ethnographic studies • Knowledge Architect • Search and usage log analysis
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Technology Needs Assessment • CKA, Knowledge Mangers • In partnership with IT and business owners • Map infrastructure elements for each technology • Evaluation plans and design projects • Recommendations and real cost estimates
Knowledge Architecture in Real Life:Knowledge Architecture Audit • Practical Foundation & Life After Audit • Seed taxonomies and/or controlled vocabularies • Metadata schemas, Persona Candidates and methods • Project recommendations • Prototype screens, applications, web sites • Monitor usage and design responses
Why Knowledge Architecture? • Knowledge Management Foundation • Immanuel Kant • Concepts without percepts are empty • Percepts without concepts are blind • Knowledge Management • KM without applications is empty (Strategy Only) • Applications without KA are blind (IT based KM)
Knowledge Architecture – Sight to the Blind • Search & Retrieval: Is anyone happy? • Trends – more articles on taxonomies, CM • New tools and approaches • Need an infrastructure team of general specialists • Anyone can organize information – card sorts, etc. • Web masters to information architects • Develop taxonomies – can’t be done by software or SME’s • Metadata, vocabularies – keywords don’t work – why?
Knowledge Architecture: Taxonomies • Need a combination of formal and informal • Difference between browse and formal taxonomies • Hierarchy, lattice, semantic networks, folders, etc. • Important to know the differences • Quality Metrics • Corpus, Coverage, Nomenclature, terminology, dependency • Mixed classes, verbal forms, bad speciation, etc. • Bell Curve, balance of depth and width • Cognitive Difference – Geography of Thought • Panda, monkey, banana
Place in the Enterprise: Intellectual Infrastructure • Would you try to run your company without organizing it? • Or let each project redefine the organization, jobs and pay, reporting structures, etc.? • Would you try to run your computers without a networked infrastructure? • Or let each person or team have a standalone, own software, own operating system, etc.? • Why do you think you can run your company without organizing your content in an integrated, systematic way?
Organization and Location of the Team • Central, Dedicated Department • Cross Organizational • IT, HR, Corporate Communication, Library, Training • Internal vs. Professional Services • How much can be done at the beginning and then maintained by small staff and how much ongoing? • Answer from Knowledge Architecture Audit
Summary • In information age, need to treat information as central • Information organization is an infrastructure element • Knowledge architecture people need to be: • Generalists, good with people and ideas • Smart, funny, and can dance real good • Knowledge architecture will: • Bring about the end of history • Usher in the third age of mankind • Help organizations work smarter and cheaper