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skill for our community. I wrote this a few years back and commend it:
1. You have to be in it to win it: if you sit on the sidelines this will never happen.
2. Be willing to take a risk: yes you might fall flat on your face! But experience tells me that if you go the extra mile people will come back for more.
3. Be willing to do this without expectation of reward: it’s always difficult to measure the impact in a world of KPI’s. You have to play a long game but be willing to cut if you feel you are being taken for a ride.
4. Be willing to acknowledge the contribution of others: from personal experience I’ve found there is nothing worse than someone taking what you’ve suggested and packaging it without attribution. A photo is a great way of saying thank you!
5. Build trust so people are willing to confide in you and trust your judgement: unless you are willing to find out about people and what they do you will never be able to make these connections.
6. Be clear about why you are making the introduction or sharing Knowledge: I used to be in the cc camp that so many inhabit believing that by informing everyone I was covering all bases. People are too busy and ignore ‘junk mail’.
7. Develop your internal filtering mechanism: you have to know your business and identify who is going to be a taker vs. a reciprocator.
8. Respect the contribution people make if you ask for advice: whatever you get back from people is important. They have committed scarce time and each time you ask for a response you are drawing on your reserve of credibility.
9. Develop a skin as thick as a Rhino: you will be disappointed when others don’t follow your lead and use the contacts or information without
December 2021
Being a Knowledge Manager directly builds on all I have learnt over the years as a Librarian...
acknowledgement. And remember 90% of people online are lurkers so will not go public with their thanks.
10. It’s ok to let go.
“#10 is challenging. People will forget who brought them together. The ‘matchmaker’ role can be draining!”
What’s in a name? In an address I gave to CILIP’s conference in Brighton in 2016, I asked: “Does KM and KM’ers sit comfortably within CILIP? If so, how is that recognised across the membership and in its charter? Is it a broad enough church to accommodate, Librarianship, Information Management and Knowledge Management or is it a case of oil and water?” Concurrently, I was co-authoring Navigating the Minefield: A Practical KM Companion. I noted:
l Few KMers have formal KM qualifications.
l There is increasing interest in creating KM Standards
I also felt, the KM “Profession” lacked a natural independent and not-for- profit home. Marketeers had CMI, HR professionals the CIPD, and Accountants, ICAEW. Having sat on the KM Chartership project board and BSI KM Standards Committee I believe one and two are up and running. As for becoming the “Natural Home” of KM’ers, CILIP is beginning to fill this vacuum. But do KM’ers sit comfortably; is there sufficient synergy between Librarians and the Knowledge (and Information) Management community? Recently, Nick Poole, in a LinkedIn post (
https://bit.ly/3E7b1Y3) noted: “CILIP is increasingly working with and for Knowledge Managers but there’s no ‘K’ in our full name.”
Some felt the name was less important than what the organisation does. Though few of my “In conversation with...” partners had KM in their job title, many performed KM roles, a number pointed to Librarianship Qualifications and training that equipped them for their current roles. Alison Jones, previous winner of the Australian Law Librarian of the year,
alerted me to an excellent article “Am I still a Librarian?” she’d authored (ALIA’s magazine, INCITE, published in Vol 42, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2021), p. 17). She outlined the synergy: “The role requires a higher level of strategic thinking and problem solving than I have experienced as a librarian. Being a Knowledge Manager directly builds on all I have learnt over the years as a Librarian and the experience I am gaining in this role will stand me in good stead whether my career takes me back into Libraries or elsewhere.” I’m convinced CILIP, a charity established by Royal Charter, with its revamped PKSB, can straddle a broad community. We need more practitioner stories to highlight what unites, not separates us!
Professor Kendra Albright who is Goodyear Endowed Professor in Knowledge Management at Kent State University Ohio, was previously a business librarian prior to teaching at University of Sheffield, and is a member of IFLA leading their research into KM education, summarises: “Librarianship is a wonderful starting point for Knowledge Management”.
And finally
The presidential role has evolved. I hope Kate Robinson, and her successor John, will build on this year’s initiatives. This year was a memorable one. I’d like to note: Simon Burton, Karen Macfarlane, Stephen Phillips, and Kate Robinson who helped whenever I asked. It’s also been a challenging one for CILIP and Board of Trustees. Their commitment has been immense, it has been a privilege to work alongside them. My best wishes for a healthy and successful 2022.
Stop press
I am delighted that following our “in conversation with...”, Dr Malcolm Rigler, who helped establish the UK’s First “Digital Health Hub” and “High Street Learning Centre” in Nailsea, is joining Health Education England with CILIP’s initiative to assist citizens to develop the skills they will need to access, assess, and use health information. A great example of ‘Knowledge Matchmaking’! IP
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