The Concept of Knowledge Media: The Past and Future

Abstract

Knowledge is the internal state of humans that results from the input and processing of information during learning and performing tasks. According to Nonaka (1991), we can distinguish two kinds of knowledge: tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is highly personal and is deeply rooted in an individual’s actions and experience as well as in his ideas, values and emotions. This type of knowledge is difficult to formalize, to communicate, and to share. Explicit knowledge can be expressed independently from its human carrier in the form of data, scientific formulae, specifications, manuals, experience, project reports, and the similar. In its externalized form, “Knowledge is information that changes something or somebody–either by becoming grounds for action, or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action” (Drucker, 1991). As a result, knowledge is considered the most valuable resource in the information age.