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Box 5.4
An example: JPL information providers network ( Bailey and Hendrickson 2004 )

The Special Library at the Jet Propulsion Lab of the California Institute of Technology took
the lead in forming a CoP for information professionals. The purpose of this CoP was to
promote knowledge sharing and networking to help connect JPL employees. The CoP
adopted an inclusive approach — a “ more the merrier ” mentality — with respect to member-
ship. Everyone deemed to play a role in moving information along was invited to the fi rst
meeting. Invitees were encouraged to identify others like themselves who might want to
participate. No one was excluded and the fi rst meeting included people with a variety of
titles, affi liations, and responsibilities within JPL. Next, a referral directory was developed
to identify members of the network as well as organizations containing relevant informa-
tion who did not have a network representative. The referral directory is a form of corpo-
rate yellow pages, or expertise locator system (ELS) and included the following information
for each member or organization:
• Name
• Information collected/provided
• Contact person, phone, e-mail address, fax number
• Hours of operation
• URL, if applicable
Some of the member organizations included the JPL AV Library, document manage-
ment unit, KM program offi ce, project libraries (project document repositories), Engineer-
ing Standards Library, IT services, Engineering Document Services, Infrared Processing and
Analysis Centre (IPAC) Library, the Oceanic and Remote Sensing Library (ORSL), Photog-
raphy Lab, Planetary Data System (PDS) that distributes data from missions, the NASA
image collection unit, and internal communications. Members had access to an e-mail
distribution list, but the main CoP channel used was a face-to-face meeting that was held
quarterly. At these meetings, the referral database was updated, new projects were reviewed,
and news was exchanged with other attendees. At some meetings, speakers presented new
tools (e.g., the KM team presented a new knowledge capture template). While there were
only six people present at the inaugural meeting, the network gradually grew to about
thirty members who regularly attend all the meetings.
Over time, the library led initiative became a part of the organization. The JPL Informa-
tion Professionals CoP is a good example of an informal network that self-organizes or
evolves without directives from management sponsors. The library continues to play a lead
role that consists of coordinating and not actively managing the CoP. This type of CoP is
often referred to as an organic entity — one that is free from strict rules (e.g., membership
eligibility), is non-hierarchical, informal, participatory, and primarily face-to-face. The JPL
CoP has helped break down organizational silos through its interdisciplinary participation.
When you think about it, there are very few if any other such opportunities for people from
different departments to meet and discuss their mutual work (other than smoking areas and
the cafeteria!). During the CoP meetings, participants are comfortable as they are not report-
ing to anyone in a supervisory fashion — they are among their peers and they are therefore
quite open to sharing their knowledge in a mutually benefi cial manner.