Knowledge Management (Hereafter KM), Essay Example

TASK 3: Introduction, Problem, Lit Review, Deficiency, Audience, Purpose Statement, and Additions to Task 2 Annotated Bibliography and Lit Review

Introduction

Milam (2005) defines Knowledge Management (hereafter KM) as the “discovery and capture of knowledge, the filtering and arrangement of this knowledge…organized complexity of collaborative work to share and use information across all aspects of an institution which marks the effective use of knowledge” (61). Information can be gained from a dictionary; knowledge is experiential, a personal journey into the acculturation, philosophy, and technology. Fenwick () identified five schools of relevant experience: reflection (as constructivist), interference (as psychoanalytic), participation (as situated learning), resistance (as critical cultural), and coemergence (as enactivist). John Dewey was among the first to publicize and encourage experiential knowledge as a viable means to educational diversification (Wallace, 2007).

Words are a definite framing for complex concepts. They are representations, much like pictures. Linguist George Lakoff claimed that political debate is nothing more than a competition to present the most compelling metaphor, i.e. to “paint a picture” with words (Sculley & Pasanek, 2008). In 2000, Frank Miller stated that the emerging field’s designation as Knowledge Management (hereafter KM) was a gross inaccuracy which depicted knowledge as a tangible, complaisant object to be captured (as cited by Zimmermann, 2006). Still, this criticism touched upon one of the most controversial aspects of KM, naming the abstract concepts and the parameters of knowledge itself, which Lakoff would have called conceptual metaphors (Zimmermann, 2006).

Developing these conceptual metaphors allows for abstract notions to be mapped in a personal cognitive connection (Sculley et al., 2008). In the same way, the databases employed by higher education systems must utilize computer-assisted textual analysis- most commonly data mining- as a framework for defining, relating, and narrowing a concept. To do so, a flesh-and-blood person must create a framework of subjective word and phrase connections; these connections inevitably will undergo transference from the knowledge management professional.

Purpose Statement

As data mining (and other computer-assisted textual analysis) methods of knowledge management gain popularity and acceptance from the tight-knit higher education systems in America, the qualitative study of the past, present, and (likely) future social undertones of knowledge theories must be examined to fully appreciate the social influences at work in the development and utilization of certain technological methodology today. The examination of factors in data mining will particularly focus on the social ramifications of knowledge management and data mining decisions made in regards to academic databases used by higher education systems in America.