New Ventures

by Xenia Stanford, Editor-in-Chief, KnowMap and President, Stanford Solutions Inc.

With the launch of Volume 2 we show the redesign of our craft, the KnowMap site. There are several more new ventures and reasons we have cause to celebrate.

Global Learn Day

One of the new ventures we undertook was Global Learn Day V on October 7, 2001. It was an exciting journey through cyber and tele-space. We were taken from shore to shore in every time zone around the globe.

Read the stories we have to tell about our trip and the view ahead in the following open articles: ( indicates open to all - visitors and subscribers alike):

Around the World in 24 Hours: Report on Global Learn Day V - In the 2001 event I hosted the Virtual Dinner Party, a gathering of Canadian and American leaders in distance education. In this report I relay our wonderful success and give results of the Web Poll we held on the credibility of distance education credentials.

Connecting the Dots in Distance Learning - GLD V Success Stories: Story 1 - Beginning the Journey to Connect the Dots - In this first success story of distance education, the leader of our GLD expedition John Hibbs shows us the vision for the future of affordable education for all.

Connecting the Dots in Distance Learning - GLD Success Stories: Story 2 - Connecting Hybrid Intellect From Moscow to the World - In the second success story we are excited to greet our first contributor from eastern Europe, Boris I. Sedunov, Deputy Rector of the Moscow State Institute of Business Administration.

Figure 1: Meeting Space

Photo courtesy of NASA - see Photo Credits

Meeting in Tele- and Cyber-Spaces

One of the other joys of our Virtual Dinner Party on Global Learn Day V was conversing and sharing knowledge and views with Debra M. Amidon, Steve Eskow, Michael Losier and Barbara Weaver Smith. Connected from different parts of North America we were joined in the telephone and chat rooms by others from many parts of the globe.

It was also a new opportunity to speak with long-time contributor, Barbara Weaver Smith, who contributed to our first ever issue, Volume 1, Number 1.

Now Weaver Smith contributes to the first issue of our new Volume 2, completing her two part series with Modeling A Culture of Collaboration: Part II - Implementing a Social Venture.

Publicity and Literacy

For the contribution I made to Global Learn Day V, John Hibbs invited me to become Publicity Director for the new voyage, the sixth, in October 2002. We must all help to spread the word about this wonderful opportunity open to all around the world.

It is our chance to heighten awareness of the efforts and opportunities made by outstanding educational and technology leaders - not just in the western hemisphere but also in third world countries where the needs are greatest and resources the scarcest. Here is where we have the ability to make the most difference in promoting literacy of both the standard and technological kind.

Of course, we have much to do in our own harbours. We should also recognize the needs and the educators here without preventing us from seeing the wider view.

Socrates Academy

Then Hibbs had another honour and commitment to offer. He asked me to be a founding Dean of the Socrates Academy. I represent Canada and USA Region, while Sedunov, a contributor this issue as detailed above, represents Russia.

Along with a selected dozen or more representing other regions of the world, we will find and adjudicate the awards to winners in distance and other education ventures offering affordable and innovative learning.

Determining who are most deserving of credit in stamping out illiteracy and broadening horizons is our new challenge.

The vision for the Academy is to do for education what the Oscars do for the movies and for educators what the Olympics does for athletes.

You can help by pointing out great project engineers in educational pursuits from anywhere in the world. Then keep your eye on the horizon for the announcement of the first winners in October 2003.

We will say more about this Academy after its formal announcement in Melbourne, Australia in March 2002. Meanwhile you can visit the site at www.bfranklin.edu/academy/sponsor.htm for further details.

There you can see how, as John Hibbs quotes Benjamin Franklin:

An Investment in Knowledge Always Gives the Best Return

Board Members Contribute

This issue is particularly exciting to me as we have our full Board represented in a substantial way:

Figure 2: KnowMap Round Table

Debra M. Amidon, our Global View Director, in Guest Editorial: Five ENTOVATION Principles for Homeland Security points out strategies to preserve homeland security, no matter what land you call home.

Then she gleans wisdom from various parts of the world in Innovative Insights - from the mountains of Banff, Alberta to the oceanfront of African Somalia we see what people are doing to make the world a better safer place. She keeps our portholes ever open to the global view.

Michael J.D. Sutton, our Standards and Certification Advisory Director writes a Review of a book and gives us an in-depth study of its value in An Analysis of the Book: Knowing in Firms: Understandings, Managing and Measuring Knowledge.

Sutton also provides sound and practical advice when we are faced with difficult decisions and frequently scouts out new quality contributors for KnowMap.

A.H. (Al) Mierau, our Positioning Director, shares his wisdom with us in two interviews: From Almost Zero Visibility to Being Found on the Web - Part I: The Basics of Search Engine Positioning - interview with A.H. (Al) Mierau and From Almost Zero Visibility to Being Found on the Web - Part II: Link Popularity, Domain Names and Learning More from Mierau - interview with A.H. (Al) Mierau.

In these articles discover what strategies Mierau used to create strong visibility on the web for us and other sites. Also glimpse evidence of the photographic abilities of this versatile and talented man. Read his revised biography on the Board page and his list of Recommended Reading.

Still want to know more about search engine positioning? Take the course he offers LVS Online.

Laurie LaLiberté, our Media Director, continues to give wise advice and create more visibility by advising the Media of our accomplishments in News Releases. Since she has been on board we have seen our subscribers, advertisers and visitors visibly skyrocket. She is also the moving force behind the vision of the new site design.

Judith Rempel, our Systems & Strategies Director, may be the most invisible to visitors and subscribers only because she has written but one rare gem, an article in V1N6.

However, she is the one who ensures we have visibility to you. She is certainly a full partner come each issue and any design decisions through her dedication to making sure everything is properly uploaded and works. Further she gives full support in sound advice on content, format, arrangement and everything else necessary to ensure the success of this venture.

Editor-in-Chief's Role

Of course, I have many words in every issue while I juggle to keep everything coordinated with contributors, reporters, advertisers and more.

This issue I complete the auditing series with the final Knowing What We Need to Know - Part III - Measuring What We Truly Need to Know. This is no means the final word on auditing and we will continue to examine different tools for conducting audits depending upon what you truly need to know.

In Off to the RACI: Mapping Roles I explain how we can map roles to ensure everyone who needs to be Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed keep knowledge flowing within and across teams knocking down silos and reducing wasted efforts.

Stanford Solutions Library

At Stanford Solutions Inc. Resource Library, available to Ruby and Diamond level subscribers only, you will find my popular article Map Your Knowledge Strategy, which we republish from Information Outlook, Vol. 5, No. 6, June 2001.

As always we stick to our policy of keeping articles short and easy to read in one sitting. Thus it is divided into three parts as follows:

• Part I: Background of Knowledge Mapping
• Part II: Strategy Maps and 4CI
• Part III: PCPRT, View from the Top and the Bottom Line

The Stanford Solutions Library as we call it for short, now contains an introductory section to help define and give the basics of knowledge management and knowledge mapping.

These two articles are the following:

• Missing Out on Knowledge Management - Is it Old Wine in New Bottles or a New Way to Work?
• What Is Knowledge Mapping and Why Must I Know?

We then have a section of articles on various types of knowledge mapping. The maps themselves are displayed in mapping format showing the name, key benefit and chief beneficiaries of each type.

Figure 3: Knowledge Maps

Setting Sail

We also carry the first preliminary summary results of Richard V. Hollinger's Internet survey in Surveys on the Use of Network Communications and Record Keeping Practices in Organizational Settings - Part I: Availability and Use of Network Applications. This keeps us tuned in awaiting further results in the next issue.

With new Reviews added every issue, Jobs and Events updated as we are informed of new ones, Challenges to entice you to share your knowledge and Links to and from other KM sites, we are ready to set sail once more for new horizons.

Thus we launch Volume 2 with this issue and hope you will stay aboard for the journey ahead.

Photo Credits

The photographs credited to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) are from collections available for public use. The use here does not imply direct permission nor constitute endorsement of the contents of this page by NASA.

Figure 1: Meteorite, Earth, ac91-0257, by Don Davis, NASA Collection.

Read more about Xenia Stanford and other members of the KnowMap Board as well as our Contributors.

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