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54-553: Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance, and use. As a form of knowledge management and knowledge organization , documentation can be provided on paper, online, or on digital or analog media , such as audio tape or CDs . Examples are user guides , white papers , online help , and quick-reference guides. Paper or hard-copy documentation has become less common. Documentation

108-536: A Social science Linguistics listed in Social science Also regarded as a Social science Also listed in Applied science Also regarded as the separate, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy Also regarded as a social science Main articles: Outline of futures studies and Futures studies Also regarded as a formal science Also a branch of electrical engineering Also regarded as

162-408: A system outside a human individual (e.g., an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design) from embodied knowledge representing a learned capability of a human body's nervous and endocrine systems . A third proposed framework distinguishes between the exploratory creation of "new knowledge" (i.e., innovation) vs. the transfer or exploitation of "established knowledge" within

216-423: A testing section to document how the software was tested. This documents conformance to the client's requirements. The result is a detailed description of how the software is designed, how to build and install the software on the target device, and any known defects and workarounds. This build document enables future developers and maintainers to come up to speed on the software in a timely manner, and also provides

270-494: A cycle in which implicit knowledge is 'extracted' to become explicit knowledge, and explicit knowledge is 're-internalised' into implicit knowledge. Hayes and Walsham (2003) describe knowledge and knowledge management as two different perspectives. The content perspective suggests that knowledge is easily stored; because it may be codified, while the relational perspective recognises the contextual and relational aspects of knowledge which can make knowledge difficult to share outside

324-459: A greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and on encouraging the sharing of knowledge . KM is an enabler of organizational learning. The most complex scenario for knowledge management may be found in the context of supply chain as it involves multiple companies without an ownership relationship or hierarchy between them, being called by some authors as transorganizational or interorganizational knowledge. That complexity

378-709: A group, organisation, or community. Collaborative environments such as communities of practice or the use of social computing tools can be used for both knowledge creation and transfer. Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities. Organisations have tried knowledge capture incentives , including making content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans. Considerable controversy exists over whether such incentives work and no consensus has emerged. One strategy to KM involves actively managing knowledge (push strategy). In such an instance, individuals strive to explicitly encode their knowledge into

432-438: A knowledge audit allows organizations to gain a deeper understanding of their knowledge assets. This includes identifying and defining these assets, understanding their behavior and properties, and describing how, when, why, and where they are used in business processes. Knowledge protection refers to behaviors and actions taken to protect the knowledge from unwanted opportunistic behavior for example appropriation or imitation of

486-449: A knowledge audit is to identify the organization's knowledge strengths and gaps, and to develop strategies for leveraging knowledge to improve performance and competitiveness. Knowledge audit helps ensure that an organization's knowledge management activities are heading in the right direction. It also reduces the making of incorrect decisions. Term knowledge audit is often used interchangeably with information audit, although information audit

540-624: A maximum of 15 words. Documentation intended for a general audience should avoid gender-specific terms and cultural biases. In a series of procedures, steps should be clearly numbered. Technical writers and corporate communicators are professionals whose field and work is documentation. Ideally, technical writers have a background in both the subject matter and also in writing, managing content, and information architecture . Technical writers more commonly collaborate with subject-matter experts , such as engineers, technical experts, medical professionals, etc. to define and then create documentation to meet

594-446: A nuanced understanding of the trade-off's involved and the context in which knowledge is shared or protected. Protecting knowledge cannot be considered without its risks. Here are listed four of the major risks associated with knowledge protection: List of academic disciplines An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of knowledge , taught and researched as part of higher education . A scholar's discipline

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648-503: A part of their business strategy , IT , or human resource management departments. Several consulting companies provide advice regarding KM to these organizations. Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage , innovation , the sharing of lessons learned , integration, and continuous improvement of the organisation. These efforts overlap with organizational learning and may be distinguished from that by

702-482: A roadmap to modifying code or searching for bugs. These software tools can automatically collect data of your network equipment. The data could be for inventory and for configuration information. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library requests to create such a database as a basis for all information for the IT responsible. It is also the basis for IT documentation. Examples include XIA Configuration. "Documentation"

756-441: A shared knowledge repository, such as a database , as well as retrieving knowledge they need that other individuals have provided (codification). Another strategy involves individuals making knowledge requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an ad hoc basis (pull strategy). In such an instance, expert individual(s) provide insights to requestor (personalisation). When talking about strategic knowledge management,

810-451: A specification for 'organizational knowledge' as a complementary aspect of quality management within an organisation. KM emerged as a scientific discipline in the early 1990s. It was initially supported by individual practitioners, when Skandia hired Leif Edvinsson of Sweden as the world's first chief knowledge officer (CKO). Hubert Saint-Onge (formerly of CIBC , Canada), started investigating KM long before that. The objective of CKOs

864-484: A third category is introduced, semi-formal protection, which includes contracts and trade-secrets.   These semi-formal methods are also usually placed under formal methods. Organizations often use a combination of formal and informal knowledge protection methods to achieve comprehensive protection of their knowledge assets. The formal and informal knowledge protection mechanisms are different in nature, and they have their benefits and drawbacks. In many organizations,

918-487: Is a significant aspect of content or document management systems, most of which have tools for developing enterprise portals. Proprietary KM technology products such as HCL Notes (Previously Lotus Notes) defined proprietary formats for email, documents, forms, etc. The Internet drove most vendors to adopt Internet formats. Open-source and freeware tools for the creation of blogs and wikis now enable capabilities that used to require expensive commercial tools. KM

972-447: Is additionally increased by industry 4.0 (or 4th industrial revolution ) and digital transformation , as new challenges emerge from both the volume and speed of information flows and knowledge generation. Knowledge management efforts have a long history, including on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship , discussion forums , corporate libraries, professional training, and mentoring programs. With increased use of computers in

1026-549: Is commonly defined by the university faculties and learned societies to which they belong and the academic journals in which they publish research . Disciplines vary between well-established ones in almost all universities with well-defined rosters of journals and conferences and nascent ones supported by only a few universities and publications. A discipline may have branches, which are often called sub-disciplines. The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to academic disciplines. In each case, an entry at

1080-537: Is document-centered strategy, where knowledge is mainly codified as "people-to-document" method. Codification relies on information infrastructure, where explicit knowledge is carefully codified and stored. Codification focuses on collecting and storing codified knowledge in electronic databases to make it accessible. Codification can therefore refer to both tacit and explicit knowledge. In contrast, personalisation encourages individuals to share their knowledge directly. Personification means human-oriented KM strategy where

1134-564: Is driving the adoption of tools that enable organisations to work at the semantic level, as part of the Semantic Web . Some commentators have argued that after many years the Semantic Web has failed to see widespread adoption, while other commentators have argued that it has been a success. Just like knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing, the term "knowledge barriers" is not a uniformly defined term and differs in its meaning depending on

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1188-416: Is often distributed via websites, software products, and other online applications. Documentation as a set of instructional materials shouldn't be confused with documentation science , the study of the recording and retrieval of information. While associated International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards are not easily available publicly, a guide from other sources for this topic may serve

1242-606: Is part of knowledge management. It helps convert tacit form of knowledge into an explicit form. It is a complex process which aims to reduce the knowledge loss in the organization. Knowledge retention is needed when expert knowledge workers leave the organization after a long career. Retaining knowledge prevents losing intellectual capital. According to DeLong(2004) knowledge retention strategies are divided into four main categories: Knowledge retention projects are usually introduced in three stages: decision making, planning and implementation. There are differences among researchers on

1296-434: Is slightly narrower in scope. The requirement and significance of a knowledge audit can vary widely among different industries and companies. For instance, within the software development industry, knowledge audits can play a pivotal role due to the inherently knowledge-intensive nature of the work. This contrasts with sectors like manufacturing, where physical assets often take more important role. The difference arises from

1350-529: Is the preferred term for the process of populating criminal databases. Examples include the National Counterterrorism Center 's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment , sex offender registries , and gang databases. Documentation, as it pertains to the early childhood education field, is "when we notice and value children's ideas, thinking, questions, and theories about the world and then collect traces of their work (drawings, photographs of

1404-503: Is to manage and maximise the intangible assets of their organizations. Gradually, CKOs became interested in practical and theoretical aspects of KM, and the new research field was formed. The KM idea has been taken up by academics, such as Ikujiro Nonaka ( Hitotsubashi University ), Hirotaka Takeuchi (Hitotsubashi University), Thomas H. Davenport ( Babson College ) and Baruch Lev ( New York University ). In 2001, Thomas A. Stewart , former editor at Fortune magazine and subsequently

1458-672: The perspective . KM perspectives include: The practical relevance of academic research in KM has been questioned with action research suggested as having more relevance and the need to translate the findings presented in academic journals to a practice. Different frameworks for distinguishing between different 'types of' knowledge exist. One proposed framework for categorising the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge . Tacit knowledge represents internalised knowledge that an individual may not be consciously aware of, such as to accomplish particular tasks. At

1512-588: The author. Knowledge barriers can be associated with high costs for both companies and individuals. Knowledge barriers appear to have been used from at least three different perspectives in the literature: 1) Missing knowledge about something as a result of barriers for the share or transfer of knowledge. 2) Insufficient knowledge based on the amount of education in a certain field or issue. 3) A unique individual or group of humans' perceptual system lacks adequate contact points or does not fit incoming information to use and transform it to knowledge. Knowledge retention

1566-410: The challenge is to find a good mix of measures that works for the organization. Formal knowledge protection practices can take various forms, such as legal instruments or formal procedures and structures, to control which knowledge is shared and which is protected. Formal knowledge protection methods include for example: patents, trademarks, copyrights and licensing. Technical solutions to protect

1620-438: The children in action, and transcripts of their words) to share with a wider community". Thus, documentation is a process, used to link the educator's knowledge and learning of the child/children with the families, other collaborators, and even to the children themselves. Documentation is an integral part of the cycle of inquiry - observing, reflecting, documenting, sharing and responding. Pedagogical documentation, in terms of

1674-486: The editor of Harvard Business Review , published a cover story highlighting the importance of intellectual capital in organizations. The KM discipline has been gradually moving towards academic maturity. First, is a trend toward higher cooperation among academics; single-author publications are less common. Second, the role of practitioners has changed. Their contribution to academic research declined from 30% of overall contributions up to 2002, to only 10% by 2009. Third,

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1728-411: The engineer keeps a notebook detailing the development "the build" of the project or module. The document can be a wiki page, Microsoft Word document or other environment. They should contain a requirements section, an interface section to detail the communication interface of the software. Often a notes section is used to detail the proof of concept, and then track errors and enhancements. Finally,

1782-521: The fact that in software development companies, the skills, expertise, and intellectual capital, often overshadow the value of physical assets. Knowledge audits provide opportunities for organizations to improve their management of knowledge assets, with the goal of enhancing organizational effectiveness and efficiency. By conducting a knowledge audit, organizations can raise awareness of knowledge assets as primary factors of production and as critical capital assets in today's knowledge economy. The process of

1836-514: The form of the knowledge and activities to share it defines the concept between codification and personalization. The form of the knowledge means that it's either tacit or explicit . Data and information can be considered as explicit and know-how can be considered as tacit. Hansen et al. defined the two strategies (codification and personalisation). Codification means a system-oriented method in KM strategy for managing explicit knowledge with organizational objectives. Codification strategy

1890-404: The highest level of the hierarchy (e.g., Humanities) is a group of broadly similar disciplines; an entry at the next highest level (e.g., Music) is a discipline having some degree of autonomy and being the fundamental identity felt by its scholars. Lower levels of the hierarchy are sub-disciplines that do generally not have any role in the structure of the university's governance. Also regarded as

1944-443: The individual level. In the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognised the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process and measurement . Key lessons learned include people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviors are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination and application; cognitive, social and organisational learning processes are essential to

1998-620: The knowledge fall also under the category of formal knowledge protection. Formal knowledge protection from technical viewpoint includes technical access constraints and protection of communication channels, systems, and storage. While knowledge may eventually become public in some form or another, formal protection mechanisms are necessary to prevent competitors from directly utilizing it for their own gain. Formal protection methods are particularly effective in protecting established knowledge that can be codified and embodied in final products or services. Informal knowledge protection methods refer to

2052-495: The knowledge within the boundaries of the organization. Informal protection methods are more effective for protecting knowledge that is complex or difficult to express, articulate, or codify. The balance between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection is a critical dilemma faced by organizations today. While sharing knowledge can lead to innovation, collaboration, and competitive advantage, protecting knowledge can prevent it from being misused, misappropriated, or lost. Thus,

2106-449: The knowledge. Knowledge protection is used to prevent the knowledge to be unintentionally available or useful for competitors. Knowledge protection can be for example a patent, copyright, trademark, lead time or secrecy held by a company or an individual. There are various methods for knowledge protection and those methods are often divided into two categories by their formality: formal protection and informal protection. Occasionally

2160-464: The need for organizational learning must be balanced with the need to protect organisations' intellectual property, especially whilst cooperating with external partners. The role of information security is crucial in helping organisations protect their assets whilst still enabling the benefits of information sharing. By implementing effective knowledge management strategies, organizations can protect valuable intellectual property while also encouraging

2214-462: The notion of explicit knowledge is self-contradictory. Specifically, for knowledge to be made explicit, it must be translated into information (i.e., symbols outside our heads). More recently, together with Georg von Krogh and Sven Voelpel , Nonaka returned to his earlier work in an attempt to move the debate about knowledge conversion forward. A second proposed framework for categorising knowledge dimensions distinguishes embedded knowledge of

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2268-437: The number of academic knowledge management journals has been steadily growing, currently reaching 27 outlets. Multiple KM disciplines exist; approaches vary by author and school. As the discipline matured, academic debates increased regarding theory and practice, including: Regardless of the school of thought , core components of KM roughly include people/culture, processes/structure and technology. The details depend on

2322-416: The opposite end of the spectrum, explicit knowledge represents knowledge that the individual holds consciously in mental focus, in a form that can easily be communicated to others. Ikujiro Nonaka proposed a model ( SECI , for Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination, Internalisation) which considers a spiraling interaction between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. In this model, knowledge follows

2376-496: The purpose. Documentation development may involve document drafting, formatting, submitting, reviewing, approving, distributing, reposting and tracking, etc., and are convened by associated standard operating procedure in a regulatory industry. It could also involve creating content from scratch. Documentation should be easy to read and understand. If it is too long and too wordy, it may be misunderstood or ignored. Clear, concise words should be used, and sentences should be limited to

2430-817: The research, or learning, visible: Documentation is certainly a process in and of itself, and it is also a process within the educator. The following is the development of documentation as it progresses for and in the educator themselves: Knowledge management An established discipline since 1991, KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration , information systems , management, library , and information science . Other fields may contribute to KM research, including information and media, computer science , public health and public policy . Several universities offer dedicated master's degrees in knowledge management. Many large companies, public institutions, and non-profit organisations have resources dedicated to internal KM efforts, often as

2484-402: The second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases , expert systems , information repositories , group decision support systems , intranets , and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts. In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced; it refers to the management of knowledge at

2538-408: The sharing of relevant knowledge across teams and departments. This active balancing act requires careful consideration of factors such as the level of openness, the identification of core knowledge areas, and the establishment of appropriate mechanisms for knowledge transfer and collaboration. Finding the right balance between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection is a complex issue that requires

2592-451: The specific context in which it is developed. Early research suggested that KM needs to convert internalised tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge to share it, and the same effort must permit individuals to internalise and make personally meaningful any codified knowledge retrieved from the KM effort. Subsequent research suggested that a distinction between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge represented an oversimplification and that

2646-473: The success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organisations if they are purposeful, concrete and action-orientated. The ISO 9001:2015 quality management standard released in September 2015 introduced

2700-815: The target is to improve knowledge flows through networking and integrations related to tacit knowledge with knowledge sharing and creation. Information technology plays a less important role, as it only facilitates communication and knowledge sharing. Generic knowledge strategies include knowledge acquisition strategy, knowledge exploitation strategy, knowledge exploration strategy, and knowledge sharing strategy. These strategies aim at helping organisations to increase their knowledge and competitive advantage . Other knowledge management strategies and instruments for companies include: Multiple motivations lead organisations to undertake KM. Typical considerations include: Knowledge management (KM) technology can be categorised: These categories overlap. Workflow, for example,

2754-444: The teacher documentation, is the "teacher's story of the movement in children's understanding". According to Stephanie Cox Suarez in "Documentation - Transforming our Perspectives", "teachers are considered researchers, and documentation is a research tool to support knowledge building among children and adults". Documentation can take many different styles in the classroom. The following exemplifies ways in which documentation can make

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2808-500: The terms of the stages. For example, Dalkir talks about knowledge capture, sharing and acquisition and Doan et al. introduces initiation, implementation and evaluation. Furthermore, Levy introduces three steps (scope, transfer, integration) but also recognizes a "zero stage" for initiation of the project. A knowledge audit is a comprehensive assessment of an organization's knowledge assets, including its explicit and tacit knowledge, intellectual capital, expertise, and skills. The goal of

2862-574: The use of informal mechanisms such as human resource management practices or secrecy to protect knowledge assets. There is notable amount of knowledge that cannot be protected by formal methods, and for which more informal protection might be the most efficient option. Informal knowledge protection methods can take various forms, such as: secrecy, social norms and values, complexity, lead-time and Human resource management. Informal knowledge protection methods protect knowledge assets for example by making it difficult for outsiders to access and understand

2916-514: The user's needs. Corporate communications includes other types of written documentation, for example: The following are typical software documentation types: The following are typical hardware and service documentation types: A common type of software document written in the simulation industry is the SDF. When developing software for a simulator, which can range from embedded avionics devices to 3D terrain databases by way of full motion control systems,

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