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22 Chapter 1

The business perspective easily maps onto the strategic nature of knowledge man-
agement, the management perspective to the tactical layer, and the hands-on perspec-
tive may be equated with the operational level.

Library and Information Science (LIS) Perspectives on KM
Although not everyone in the LIS community is positively inclined toward KM
(tending to fall back on arguments that IM is enough and that KM is encroaching
upon this territory, as shown in some of the earlier defi nitions), others see KM as a
means of enlarging the scope of activities that information professionals can partici-
pate in. Gandhi (2004) notes that knowledge organization has always been part of the
core curriculum and the professional toolkit of LIS; and Martin et al. (2006, 15) point
out that LIS professionals are also expert in content management. The authors go on
to state that
Libraries and information centers will continue to perform access and intermediary roles which
embrace not just information but also knowledge management (Henczel 2004). The difference
today is that these traditional roles could be expanded if not transformed . . . through activities
aimed at helping to capture tacit knowledge and by turning personal knowledge into corporate
knowledge that can be widely shared through the library and applied appropriately.
Blair (2002) notes that the primary differences between traditional information
management practiced by LIS professional and knowledge management consist of
collaborative learning, the transformation of tacit knowledge into explicit forms, and
the documentation of best practices (and presumably their counterpart, lessons
learned). The author often uses the phrase “ connecting people to content and con-
necting people to people ” to highlight the addition of non-document-based resources
that play a critical role in KM.
As with KM itself, there is no best or better perspective; instead, the potential added
value is to combine the two perspectives in order to get the most out of KM. One of
the easiest ways of doing so would be to ensure that both perspectives — and both
types of skill sets — are represented on your KM team.

Why Is KM Important Today?

The major business drivers behind today ’ s increased interest and application of KM
lie in four key areas:
1. Globalization of business Organizations today are more global — multisite, multi-
lingual, and multicultural in nature.