Jennifer A. Bartlett - Libraries that Learn: Keys to Managing Organizational Knowledge

ALA Editions purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.

2019 by the American Library Association

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs

978-0-8389-1831-9 (paper)

978-0-8389-1846-3 (PDF)

978-0-8389-1845-6 (ePub)

978-0-8389-1847-0 (Kindle)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bartlett, Jennifer A., editor. | Acadia, Spencer, editor.

Title: Libraries that learn : keys to managing organizational knowledge / edited by Jennifer A. Bartlett and Spencer Acadia.

Description: Chicago : ALA Editions, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and .

Identifiers: LCCN 2018059737 | ISBN 9780838918319 (paper : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780838918456 (epub) | ISBN 9780838918463 (pdf) | ISBN 9780838918470 (kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: LibrariesInformation technology. | Knowledge management. | LibrariesInformation resources management. | Organizational learning. | Communication in library administration. | LibrariesInformation technologyUnited StatesCase studies. | Knowledge managementUnited StatesCase studies.

Classification: LCC Z678 .L455 2019 | DDC 025dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059737

Cover design by Alejandra Diaz. Images Adobe Stock.

SPENCER ACADIA

SPENCER ACADIA and JENNIFER A. BARTLETT

JENNIFER A. BARTLETT and SPENCER ACADIA

H. FRANK CERVONE

LINNA R. AGNE and DEBRA P. BROOKHART

DIANA DILL and ALICE KALINOWSKI

RACHAEL DREYER and JENNIE LEVINE KNIES

JEREMIAH PASCHKE-WOOD and ANNE E. WILSON

JUNIOR TIDAL

NANCY J. WEINER

JENNIFER A. BARTLETT

We are all familiar with the experience of not being able to easily locate a certain manual, directory, policy, procedure, report, form, or set of instructions needed to help with a particular task. Manuals and websites become outdated, longtime employees leave and take their experience with them, files are deleted, and often we need to track down or even re-create essential information time and time again. Why do many libraries find the gathering and use of organizational information so challenging? After all, librarians and other information professionals spend their careers in the selection, classification, and dissemination of knowledge. Why should our own internal organizational knowledge be any different? A clear point to be made in this book is that the organizational knowledge in libraries is not concerned with the information that librarians make available to their external users and the general public; rather, it involves the processes and procedures that are implemented to effectively manage a librarys internal organizational knowledgethe stuff that library employees know and do within and for the institution. The irony is not lost on us that librarians, who are often championed as knowledge gatekeepers for others, are not themselves trained to manage their own workplace knowledge.

Often, knowledge management (KM) is situated within economic contexts, and it has become especially prominent in the fields of business and information technology. If a for-profit company can manage and absorb its employees knowledge before they depart the organization, that knowledge gives the company a potential strategic and economic advantage over its competitors. From a business standpoint, this makes sense. However, this book is not about using knowledge to accumulate revenue in the corporate sector. Instead, it is designed to provide a practical introduction to knowledge management for libraries. Certainly, the needs of specific types of libraries vary; however, we believe that implementing the basic principles of KM across any library, library system, or library consortium is beneficial for that organizations optimal functioning over time and during periods of change. Keep in mind as you read this book that your role as a library leader is not to manage the knowledge of your institution, per se, but rather to enable your librarians to create, innovate, (re)organize, capture, and apply new knowledge at your library.

The focus of this book is on the use of KM for better structuring, informing, motivating, and creating organizational knowledge, particularly in internal instances within library environments. The purpose of this book is to help library supervisors, managers, department heads, directors, and deans become better informed about what KM is and is not, as well as to provide library-specific examples that illustrate KM attributes in practice via case studies. Your library already contains organizational knowledgeboth in your employees and in your institution; the intended outcome of this book, therefore, is to encourage you to guide, foster, and organize that knowledge in order to improve organizational fitness.

This book is divided into two main parts. contains six case studies from U.S. librariesfive academic and one special. The case studies offer practical, real-life insights into how libraries have used elements borrowed from knowledge management to address organizational issues. The case studies are written by librarians, for librarians and library leaders. Our hope is that this book will provide leaders with a greater understanding of the internal knowledge processes of the libraries they manage.

In . His insights are especially important for libraries because such innovative computing and big data are already burgeoning in the tech and business worlds, and we predict that these fields will be increasingly investigated and used in integrated library systems and library-focused technological solutions in the future.

each focus on the roles of technology in KM at the authors respective institutions. Paschke-Wood and Wilson discuss the use of LibAnswers, a popular library solutions product by Springshare, to create an internal staff handbook at the University of Arizona Libraries. Tidal describes the KM experience over several years, and through several wiki systems, at the library of the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn. And Weiner poses the question of whether or not wikis provide a KM solution based on the experience of numerous retiring employees at the William Patterson University library.

Despite concerted efforts, we were unable to obtain case studies for this book from public libraries, and this warrants a brief comment. We believe that public libraries do, indeed, engage in forms of knowledge management, though such activities may not be described as KM, per se. If you yourself work in or manage a public library, we hope you will see via this book that successful KM is possible at your public institution. We hope that a future ALA book will emerge that focuses exclusively on KM in the public library setting, since we firmly believe it is time to extend and recognize KM beyond academia and business enterprises.

We want to thank ALA Editions for the opportunity to work on this book, and, in particular, our editor Patrick Hogan, who was unfailingly patient and helped us to keep everything on track. Thanks also to the contributors to this volume, who gave so generously of their time and expertise. We both express appreciation to the International Federation of Library Associations Knowledge Management Section, which remains an unending source of inspiration and experience for each of us.