Knowledge
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Contents
Definition
Knowledge is A mix of experiences, values, contextual information and expert insight for acquiring, understanding and interpreting information. Together with attitudes and skills, it forms a capacity for effective actions.
Summary
Knowledge is is a combination of “knowing facts” and also “knowing how”to do something and is acquired from a mix of experiences, values, contextual information. Knowledge has several dimensions: types (explicit, implicit, tacit), levels (know-why, know-what, know-how) and covers many subjects or domains.
Description
Since the time of the earliest philosophers men and women have attempted to both understand and define the concept of knowledge, however, no single definition of knowledge exists that has been generally agreed upon. Table 1 shows some of the definitions:
Knowledge has many dimensions.
In the same way that an automotive vehicle may be described in terms of many dimensions such as:
- Materials: Metal, Rubber, Glass etc.
- Components: Wheels, Engine, Passenger compartment, etc.
- Colours : Black, Red, Grey etc.
So also can Knowledge be described in terms of a number of different dimensions such as:
- Domains – technical, organisational, societal etc.
- States – Explicit, implicit, tacit etc.
- Levels – Know-why, know-how, know-what etc.
- Representations – Documents, models, pictures etc.
- Categories – Good practices, lessons, standards etc.
- Artefacts – Buildings, tools, equipment, etc.
Many knowledge models exist that refer to these different dimensions. Three of the more practical models are described below
Know-why,know-how,know-what knowledge model
Description
Know-how usually refers to knowledge on how to accomplish something and implies practical knowledge or skills giving the holder of such knowledge the ability to execute tasks of a practical nature. Know-what often refers to the facts about a certain subject. Know-why refers to the knowledge about theoretical knowledge and an understanding of causal relationships, interactive effects and uncertainty levels associated with a given situations which can be used to find new solutions and solve problems.
Example
A simple example to illustrate this is the need for different types of knowledge when jumping into deep water. Know-how is the ability to swim, know-what is knowing what arm and leg actions are required as they may be presented in a written instruction manual on swimming. Know-why may include an understanding of Archimede's principle and Newton's third law.
Practical application in KM
This model can be extended to include other aspects of knowledge. As well as know-how, know-why, know-what, we can add know-who, know-when, know-where. This is a useful model for knowledge retention and transfer leading to the employment of practical tools for eliciting and capturing knowledge. For example a Personal network map is one example of a tool used for transfering know-who, know-when and know-where.
Proficiency, codification, diffusion model
Description
Knowledge has three attributes whose values can be managed by knowledge management. These three attributes are:
- level of proficiency (P)
- level of codification (C)
- level of diffusion (D)
Proficiency refers to how much of a particular capability a person or team has. It is the degree of mastery of a skill or area of knowledge. Codification refers to the transformation of knowledge into a human-readable format. Diffusion refers to the number of people who hold knowledge in any given area and the means to spread that knowledge.
Example
Practical application in KM
Domains knowledge model
Description
All knowledge can be subdivided onto knowledge domains. Each is the content of a particular field or area of knowledge. In knowledge management domains are often defined by the scope of Communities of practice, taxonomies or Educational courses and are useful subdivisions of knowledge into which to organise knowledge repositories.
Example
At a macro scale, examples of domains might be Chemistry, Physics, Biology or at a smaller scale the domain of Physics may be subdivided into many more domains such as Classical Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Modern Physics, Optics, Thermodynamics etc.
Practical application in KM
Practical tools for managing domains include ontolgies which describe knowledge of a specific domain through concepts in their relation to other concepts.
Explicit,implicit,tacit knowledge model
Description
It is useful to identify three types of knowledge: Explicit, tacit and implicit. Each requires different approaches to its management. The model is often illustrated with reference to an iceberg (Fig. 3.)
- Explicit is knowledge that has been articulated, codified or otherwise captured. In other words it can be documented in useful forms such as operating manuals, files, reports, drawings, etc.;
- Implicit is knowledge held by individuals that has the potential to be codified but has not yet been articulated or documented;
- Tacit, in contrast, is held in the mind of individuals and is often unspoken and difficult to articulate and share. It includes skills, insight, intuition and judgement. The consensus amongst knowledge management professionals is that most of the knowledge in any organisations is tacit.
Example
Much of what can be descirbe for the swimming example above under the "know-why,know-how,know-what" model can also be said of this model, where Tacit knowledge is broadly equivalent to know-how and explicit knowledge is equivalent to know-what.
Practical application in KM
A corollary to the model is that usually only part of the explicit knowledge is codified and thus represents an opportunity for knowledge capture.
References
[1] KURONEN, BIT Research Center, Helsinki University of Technology, “What is tacit knowledge in NPP maintenance and what are the prerequisites for sharing it?”, CSNI International Workshop, Ottawa, Canada, 3-5 October 2005.
[2] DAVENPORT, T.H., PRUSAK, L., Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA (2000).
[3] INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES, Radioactive Waste Information: Meeting Our Obligations to Future Generations with Regard to Safety of Waste Disposal Facilities, ICA Study 18, ICA, Paris (2006).
[4] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Planning and Execution of Knowledge Management Assist missions for Nuclear Organizations, IAEA-TECDOC-1586, IAEA, Vienna (2008).
[5] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Knowledge Management for Nuclear Industry Operating Organizations, IAEA-TECDOC-1510, IAEA, Vienna (2006).
