PhD Robert Loew
Information Brokerage – A new Approach using Knowledge Management
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, 2009
Abstract
Traditional knowledge management attempts to store the total enterprise knowledge
into IT related structures, but knowledge management strategies should focus also on
people and organisations and not just on technology.
This can be addressed in part by communicating knowledge between people, in and
across organisations. Such communication focuses on the development and exchange of
people’s experience.
This thesis introduces a hybrid knowledge management solution consisting of an
automated system that includes people: employees, experts and Knowledge Brokers
(KB). The hybrid concept supports the identification of suitable people for certain
topics of discussion. Further, it supports the knowledge communication process by
providing a communication infrastructure. When employees cannot find the appropriate
information or expert, then they can ask a personal Knowledge Broker for assistance.
Knowledge Brokers can cooperate, forming the Knowledge Broker Network (KBN).
A knowledge or semantic network is used to model relationships between the key
concepts of the company and the topics of expertise of employees and experts. Instead
of storing data in repositories, this novel KBN concept uses “meta-knowledge”, which
describes relationships between people and their experiences, and their ability to answer
questions in a certain area. Users’ documents are analysed and classified automatically
with the aim to discover and update their experiences.
The integration of external resources and an algorithm that proposes personalised hints
to valuable information are part of the KBN approach.
In addition, the concept comprises personalisation, focusing on:
- the user’s personalised view into the knowledge network, based on his information ratings;
- the user’s private part of the knowledge network.
Table of Content
… Details
1 Introduction .......................................................... 10
2 Knowledge Management .................................................. 19
2.1 What is Knowledge? .................................................... 19
2.2 Knowledge Management Concepts ......................................... 24
2.2.1 KM based on Business Process Models
2.2.2 Semantic Networks and Ontologies
2.2.3 Standards
2.2.4 Search- and Retrieval-Methods
2.3 Knowledge Management Systems .......................................... 54
2.3.1 Technologies and Applications forming a KMS
2.3.2 Review of Some KMS
2.4 Summary and Relevance for the Thesis .................................. 73
3 Issues in Company Knowledge Management – Status and Lessons Learned ... 74
3.1 Knowledge Management Trends ........................................... 74
3.2 Contact- and Knowledge Exchange Platforms ............................. 81
3.2.1 Brief Description of Examined Platforms
3.2.2 Analysis of Contact- and Knowledge Platform Examination
3.3 User Research Knowledge Management Experiences and Needs .............. 92
3.3.1 Profile of Attendees
3.3.2 Evaluation of a Used Knowledge Management System
3.3.3 Requirements for a Hypothetical Knowledge Management System
3.3.4 Personal Comments
3.3.5 Résumé
3.4 Problems of Traditional KM / Findings in Literature .................. 101
3.5 Lessons Learned: Requirements for KM Success ......................... 112
4 A Novel Knowledge Broker Network (KBN) ............................... 117
4.1 Principle / Strategy ................................................. 117
4.2 Man-Machine-Cooperation .............................................. 124
4.2.1 KMS and Knowledge Structure
4.2.2 Employee Profiles
4.2.3 Automated Update Processes for the Maintenance
of the Knowledge Network
4.2.4 Search Functionality
4.2.5 Search Results Restrictions and Ranking of Experts
4.2.6 Supporting Complex Requests / Querying Multiple Experts
4.2.7 When to Contact a Personal Knowledge Broker
4.3 Personalisation ...................................................... 135
4.3.1 Personalisation Concept
4.3.2 How Personalisation Works in the KBN Portal
4.4 Communities .......................................................... 140
4.4.1 Communities of Practice
4.4.2 Management of Employee’s Relationships
4.4.3 Identify Communities of Practice based on Employee’s Relationships
4.4.4 Organisational Support of Communities of Practice
4.4.5 Asking Communities of Practice
4.5 Search Assistance Algorithm (SAA) .................................... 148
4.5.1 Calculating Additional Hints by Personalised Knowledge Retrieval
4.5.2 Introduction to SAA
4.5.3 Extensions of SAA for Practical Use
4.6 Integration of Internet Resources .................................... 159
4.6.1 Integration of Semantic Web Resources
4.6.2 Integration of Documents or single Pages found in the Web
4.6.3 Integration of entire Web Sites
4.6.4 Links to Information Items vs. Copies of Information Items
4.6.5 Trust on External Resources
4.6.6 Issues on including External Resources in a Company Knowledge Base
4.7 Privacy Concept ...................................................... 162
4.8 Connecting KMS Islands Using the KB Network .......................... 164
4.9 KBN Portal Prototype ................................................. 165
4.10 Search Assistant Algorithm (SAA) Infrastructure Prototype ............ 176
4.11 Who is qualified for the role »Knowledge Broker« ? ................... 207
4.12 Summary .............................................................. 208
5 Other Applications of the Man-Machine-Cooperation-Principle .......... 212
5.1 IT Assistance for Small and Medium Enterprises ....................... 212
5.2 Personal Assistance Network (PAN) .................................... 218
5.3 Information Broker Network (IBN) ..................................... 220
5.4 Information Broker Prototype ......................................... 228
5.5 Summary .............................................................. 237
6 Conclusions & Outlook ................................................ 238
Literature ................................................................. 249
Appendices ................................................................. 278
A Publications
B Knowledge Management Technologies
B.1 XML - based Standards
B.1.1 eXtensible Markup Language XML
B.1.2 XSL (eXtensible Style Language)
B.1.3 XPath (XML Path Language)
B.1.4 XLink
B.2 Topic Maps
B.3 Search- and Retrieval-Method Examples
C Details to Knowledge Management Trend Studies
C.1 Study Nohr 2000
C.2 Study unicmind 2001
C.3 Study Inst. f. e-Management 2001
C.4 Study Ohle 2003
C.5 Study Koeder & Rohleder 2004
C.6 Study Linde 2005
D Details to Contact- and Knowledge Exchange Platforms
D.1 Functions of Examined Platforms
D.2 Search for Resources
D.3 Search for Experts
E GUI Elements of the KBN Portal
F Comparison of Functionality between KBN concept and KMS
G List of Figures
Content
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Preface | 1 - 3 |
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Table of Content | 5 - 9 |
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Introduction | 10 - 18 |
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Knowledge Management - Theory | 19 - 39 |
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Search- and Retrieval-Methods - Theory | 40 - 53 |
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Knowledge Management Systems | 54 - 72 |
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User Research Knowledge Management Experiences and Needs | 92 - 100 |
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Lessons Learned : Requirements for KM Success | 112 - 116 |
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A Novel Knowledge Broker Network (KBN) | 117 - 123 |
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Man-Machine-Cooperation | 124 - 134 |
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Personalisation | 135 - 139 |
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Communities | 140 - 147 |
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Other Applications of the Man-Machine-Cooperation-Principle : IT Assistance for SME | 212 - 212 |
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Other Applications of the Man-Machine-Cooperation-Principle : Personal Assistance Network (PAN) | 218 - 219 |
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Other Applications of the Man-Machine-Cooperation-Principle : Information Broker Network (IBN) | 220 - 227 |
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Conclusions & Outlook | 238 - 248 |
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Literature | 249 - 277 |
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Appendix A : Publications | 278 - 279 |
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Appendix C : Used Studies | 294 - 303 |
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Appendix G : Figures | 314 - 323 |
bibTex :
@book{loew2009knowledgebroker,
author={Loew, Robert},
title={Information Brokerage -- A new Approach using Knowledge Management},
year={2009},
publisher={Cork Institute of Technology},
address={Cork, Ireland},
url={https://info.robertloew.de/phd}
}