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Knowledge Management Tools 297

Knowledge Acquisition and Application Tools

A number of technologies play an important role in how successful knowledge workers
are in acquiring and applying knowledge content that is made available to them by
the organization. E-learning systems provide support for learning, comprehension,
and better understanding of the new knowledge to be acquired. Tools such as EPSS,
expert systems, and decision support systems (DSS) help knowledge workers to better
apply the knowledge on the job. Adaptive technologies can be used to personalize
knowledge content push or pull. Recommender systems can detect similarities or
affi nities between different types of users and make recommendations of additional
content that others like them have found to be useful to acquire and apply. Knowledge
maps and other visualization tools can help to acquire and apply valuable knowledge
better. A number of tools derived from artifi cial intelligence can at least partially
automate processes such as text summarization, content classifi cation, and content
selection.
E-learning applications started out as computer-based learning or tutoring systems
(CBT) and web-based training (WBT) applications. The common feature is the online
learning environment provided for learners. Courses can now be delivered via the web
or the company intranet. The particular knowledge and know-how to be acquired can
be scoped and delivered in a timely fashion in order to support knowledge acquisition.
E-learning technologies also greatly increase the range of knowledge dissemination as
knowledge that has been captured and coded or packaged as E-learning can be easily
made available to all organizational members, regardless of any time or distance
constraints.
Decision support systems are designed to facilitate groups in decision-making.
They provide tools for brainstorming, critiquing ideas, putting weights and probabi-
lities on events and alternatives, and voting. Such systems enable presumably more
rational and even-handed decisions. Primarily designed to facilitate meetings, they
encourage equal participation by, for instance, providing anonymity or enforcing turn
taking.
Visualization technologies and knowledge mapping are good ways of synthesizing
large amounts of complex content in order to make it easier for knowledge workers
to acquire and apply.
Artifi cial intelligence (AI) research addressed the challenges of capturing, represent-
ing, and applying knowledge long before the term knowledge management entered
popular usage. AI developed automated reasoning systems that could make use
of explicit knowledge representations in order to provide expert-level advice,