Portals for Knowledge Management

Abstract

Knowledge is often defined to be meaningful information. Knowledge is derived from information. What makes the difference between data and information is their organisation, and what makes the difference between information and knowledge is their interpretation (Bhatt, 2001). It is defined as a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief towards the truth (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Knowledge can also be defined as know-why, know-how, and know-who, or an intangible economic resource from which future resources will be derived (Rennie, 1999). Knowledge is built from data, which is first processed into information (i.e., relevant associations and patterns). Information becomes knowledge when it enters the system and when it is validated (collectively or individually) as a relevant and useful piece of knowledge to implement in the system (Carrillo, Anumba, & Kanara, 2000). There are three types of knowledge within any organization, individual, group, and enterprise, and that knowledge can be generally classified along the lines of being explicit, embedded, and tacit. Explicit knowledge is knowledge represented in documents, books, e-mail, and databases. Embedded knowledge is organizational knowledge found in business processes, products, and services. Tacit knowledge is undocumented knowledge that is captured during business processes by knowledge workers.