Search results

A common thread among the plethora of definitions of knowledge management is that its objective is to identify and leverage the collective knowledge in an organization to help organizations compete and survive. One potential lever is e‐learning, the creation and distribution of organizational knowledge through the online delivery of information, communication, education, and training. John Chambers, of Cisco Systems, said: “The two great equalizers in life are the Internet and education”, so why not fuse the two to provide an efficient way to empower a workforce with the skills and knowledge it needs to compete amid the rapid pace of change in business? In this paper we discuss the relationship between knowledge management and e‐learning and present a framework for employing e‐learning as a valuable tool for knowledge management. The framework encompasses the planning and implementation elements necessary for organizations to leverage existing technologies and implement new ones to promote organizational learning and contribute to the management of organizational knowledge.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.

This paper describes an ethnographic study of the electronic community formed during an intensive summer school seminar on networking. The seminar, conducted in a mostly electronic environment, was comprised of master′s and doctoral students involved in various fields of study. Ethnographic research techniques facilitated the observation and description of the actions and events of this networked learning community, where events reflect both individual personalities and shared knowledge. This exploration of the cultural meanings of class pedagogical events led to an enhanced understanding of both the nature of the online educational environment and the applicability of ethnographic research techniques to networked communities.

Earlier in the year, during the national steel industry strike, the House of Lords overturned a judgment of Lord Denning, MR, that sections of the industry unaffected by the trade dispute could be regarded as outside the Act and its amendments and that unions could be restrained in their application of immune activities to those firms. The decision apart, their Lordships in delivering judgment reaffirmed that only Parliament had power to make the Law; it was not the function of Judges to do this, their's to interpret and apply the Law. In strict legal terms and applying to statutes and statutory instruments, this is true; but in the widest sense, judges have been making law for centuries. Otherwise, from whence cometh the Common Law, one of the wonders of the world, if not from the mouths of H.M. Judges. Much of it is now enshrined in statute form, especially Criminal Law, but initially it was all judge‐made. In most systems of human control and function, complete separation is rarely possible and when attempted the results have not been conspicuously successful.

I felt myself the recipient of a great honour when asked to read a paper on this subject before your Society. One difficulty, however, at once confronted me, and that was that what your society might regard as an act of sophistication of food, I might believe to be only a perfectly legitimate manufacturing improvement. I had no wish to masquerade before you as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and therefore stated my position to your secretary. As a result of some correspondence, I think that he, as your representative, and I, both felt that granted such differences of opinion, they themselves constituted one of the strongest arguments in favour of the formation of a Court of Reference. There are, no doubt, many processes which are considered by their inventors and users as of advantage in the manufacture of food, whereas others regard them with the greatest distrust and aversion. In most cases I believe the members of both these classes to be high‐minded and honourable men. That being so, it is submitted that the best method of arriving at the real facts is the establishment of an impartial, broad‐minded, and capable Court of Reference, to which such matters should be submitted for examination and decision.

There is controversy about the role information technology (IT) should play in knowledge management (KM) spanning extremes that either overvalue or undervalue IT's role. This study recognizes the balance required between the two extremes and aims to present a KM process and a three‐dimensional model to assist in identifying opportunities in which IT can effectively facilitate KM practices.

Through a synthesis of KM literature the paper developed a KM process that consists of identification of classifications of knowledge and their particular value to an organization, sources of knowledge, and application opportunities. It developed a three‐dimensional model consisting of KM life cycle, KM level, and KM objectives to assist in identifying the most effective IT application opportunities.

Current IT infrastructures provide support for the organization, formalization, and distribution of organizational knowledge. However, there are relatively few applications that perform the generation, application, and evolution of organizational knowledge. The paper describes a distributed simulation prototype system that demonstrates the potential ability of IT to perform these important KM activities and contribute to the effective facilitation of KM.

This study is by no means exhaustive, but is intended as a starting point to explore opportunities in which IT may be most effective in realizing the goals and objectives of KM.

The proposed KM process guides knowledge workers toward a systematic understanding of how to view the use of IT in the most effective way to achieve organizational objectives and goals. The model permits them to assess how they are currently using IT for KM and where they may either leverage their current IT infrastructure or develop focused IT applications to achieve benefits through better use of IT in facilitating knowledge management. The Navy planning system described demonstrates one such application.

National Animal Health Week, usually the last week in May, was instituted by presidential proclamation in 1984. (The related observances Be Kind to Animals Week, sponsored by the American Humane Association, and National Pet Week, sponsored by the Auxiliary to the American Veterinary Medical Association, are usually celebrated during the first full week in May.)

HARROGATE will be notable as the venue of the Conference in one or two ways that distinctive. The Association Year is now to begin on January 1st and not in September as heretofore; and, in consequence, there will be no election of president or of new council until the end of the year. The Association's annual election is to take place in November, and the advantages of this arrangement must be apparent to everyone who considers the matter. Until now the nominations have been sent out at a time when members have been scattered to all parts of the country on holiday, and committees of the Council have been elected often without the full consideration that could be given in the more suitable winter time. In the circumstances, at Harrogate the Chair will still be occupied by Sir Henry Miers, who has won from all librarians and those interested in libraries a fuller measure of admiration, if that were possible, than he possessed before he undertook the presidency. There will be no presidential address in the ordinary sense, although Sir Henry Miers will make a speech in the nature of an address from the Chair at one of the meetings. What is usually understood by the presidential address will be an inaugural address which it is hoped will be given by Lord Irwin. The new arrangement must bring about a new state of affairs in regard to the inaugural addresses. We take it that in future there will be what will be called a presidential address at the Annual Meeting nine months after the President takes office. He will certainly then be in the position to review the facts of his year with some knowledge of events; he may chronicle as well as prophesy.

IT is curious to note how many more books are written for boys than for girls. Considering the growing number of women writers, it might be expected that girls' books would predominate. It may be that women writers are canny enough to write with their eye on the boy reader knowing that while a totally feminine story will not attract boys, girls often read their brothers' books. Most of the children's classics appeal to both sexes—Peter Pan, Pinocchio, A Christmas Carol, Hans Brinker, The Wind in the Willows, and The Bastable Children, for example. Even the classics of adventure such as Treasure Island, and Robinson Crusoe, have their female devotees and therefore stand a greater chance of survival than books like Little Women, the Katy series, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. With the development of the “family story” popularised by E. Nesbit, there seems to have been a decline in the school story—at least among boys. Either they prefer natural tales of boys and girls together at home, or on holiday, or realistic adventures. A. S. Tring keeps a foot in all three camps, so to speak, with his tale of out‐of‐school activities, adventures and feuds between two day schools. His story entitled The Old Gang (O.U.P., 7/6) is told by the hero himself, in a racy style, and is amusingly illustrated by John Camp. Of the realistic adventure type is The Missing Legatee, by Wilfrid Robertson (O.U.P., 7/6), and it has its setting in the wilds of the Zambesi where the author himself has made expeditions, exploring and big game hunting. It satisfies the boy's demand for plenty of action and at the same time conforms to a good stylistic standard. Another tale of a search undertaken at great risk is David Gammon's Against the Golden Gods (Lutterworth, 5/‐) in which a seventeen year old boy goes out among the head hunters of Papua to rescue his captive father. Fog in the Channel, by Percy Woodcock (Nelson, 7/6) relates stirring adventures by sea, beginning with a collision in the fog when two schoolboys board a mysterious vessel supposed to be on secret service.

The Milk (Amendment) Order, 1917, which came into force on December 31st, provides that milk shall be sold retail only by Imperial measure; that no colouring matter shall be added to milk or cream intended for sale; that no milk to which any water has been added shall knowingly be sold or offered for sale; that no person may use for the purpose of his trade any milk can or milk bottle which bears the name, trade name, trade mark, or trade device of some person other than himself or his employer, except with the consent of such person. The Order contains a new clause, in substitution for Clauses 4 and 6 of the Milk Order, 1917 (which are revoked), providing that where milk is sold wholesale by or on behalf of any person other than the producer the maximum prices chargeable shall, unless otherwise determined, pursuant to the Order, be as follows:—