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ISSN 1499-1209 |
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Our Audience and PurposeKnowMap arose from the desire of practitioners, professionals and managers to learn about successful knowledge management practices and tools. A more detailed description of our Target Audience is found below. For additional rationale on the founding of KnowMap see As We Map and Manage and to learn some of the philosophy behind it, see the Navigating beyond the Known. To comment on these and any articles you find (or any information you wish you would find) in our pages, please e-mail Editor, KnowMap. To read what others are saying about us, see Letters. To learn about the diverse and talented people behind KnowMap see the Editorial Board and Contributors pages. For Sites that link to us, check out our Reciprocal Links page. Knowledge Management AudienceOur target audience is the practitioner, professional, manager or any other level charged with the implementation of knowledge management initiatives and activities. The implementer is interested in more practical rather than esoteric subject matter. He or she must make knowledge management happen. He or she may be an information or knowledge manager on the front line or a knowledge worker in the trenches. The background and responsibilities of these practitioners may be in library, records, human resources, competitive intelligence, technology or any other white-collar field. Many businesses are now expecting all their staff to be knowledge workers and take part in knowledge management activities. Therefore, many in fields formerly considered strictly blue-collar might now be interested in how to become this new breed of worker. They too should find value in these pages. We found other knowledge management publications already meet the more esoteric or philosophical top down view of knowledge management. However, professionals appear to be ever hungry not for ideals but for achievables. Those strictly interested in technology may need to look elsewhere. Although our audience will be interested in software tools to enable them to better manage knowledge, they are wise enough to know knowledge management has more to do with people than technology. Tools, such as software, are only extensions, not substitutes, for good knowledge management practices. The person must understand the process before the tool is employed. Although many tools may be explored and even advertised in our pages, the philosophy of KnowMap is that software tools are only part of a large toolkit that emphasizes human skills and knowledge. Also many proponents of tools feel theirs is the best or only fit for knowledge management tasks. Tools are best suited for the specific aspect of the job for which they were designed and are only as good as those who employ them. A poor workman blames his tools and a wise designer of specific tools realizes his is not the only type needed for his customer to carry on business. Would you go to a mechanic to have your car fixed if he only had one type of tool? Would you get on an airplane you knew was constructed by an aeronautics engineer with a limited toolkit? The answers to these questions are obvious. Therefore, do not expect our readers to find one solution to all knowledge management problems. We wish to expose them to as many tools as possible and explain how, where, when and why these work. Furthermore, we would not trust the mechanic or aeronautics engineer who had the best and widest assortment of tools but was not skilled in using them. Thus the aim of this magazine is to increase the skill level of the knowledge "engineers" and "mechanics.
If you feel you may have something to offer to our readers, check Collaborators and Categories to see where your idea best fits.
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