Knowledge mobilization: The challenge for information professionals

Abstract

This paper examines the challenges that the success of library and information systems design and implementation is now generating. It makes a distinction between management and mobilization and argues that the organizational success of the interrelated fields of knowledge management and in-formation systems (KM/IS) rests on strengthening (1) their descriptive understanding of how individuals in organizations make their own choices about accessing, using and sharing knowledge and (2) corre-sponding prescriptive recommendations for adapting the technical designs of KM/IS to best accommo-date those choices. It is success that has created this need, in that every major trend in KM/IS adds to user choices and reduces institutional control; the library now has no locked doors and experts can â meetâ wherever they are and whenever they want. Blogs bypass all the formal traditions, practices, edi-torial policies, verification procedures and protections against libel and misrepresentation of traditional print media. The frequent use of the term â democratic journalismâ to describe the blog phenomenon (George, 2006) in itself implies that traditional journalism is non-democratic. While KM/IS is not driven by a search for profits in the mass consumer market, it shares the same basic aim as leaders in consumer electronics, mobile data services, and even the gaming field. It is a commitment of institutional funds, whether from research grants or in-house sources, to innovate through information technology. The pur-pose of the innovation is to enable and encourage new behaviors. Knowledge management is focused in this regard on knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Information services are generally more centered on individual information-seeking and learning. When user choices determine the adoption and impact of this type pf innovation, then obviously it is essential to understand the foundations and dynamics of choice.