Cert III in RK - Info Mgt, Chapter 1

Hi Team

Well here we are, week one Chapter one of the final unit for the Cert III – it’s almost the end, hang in there you are doing fabulously!

Data, Information, Knowledge

Fig 1 How they all work together

This week we took a look at ‘data’, ‘information’, and ‘knowledge’ and we learnt that data is unprocessed information, usually statitic in nature that on its own has no meaning.  A collection of data will begin to have a context, and that is when it moves from being ‘data’ to information.  Information is usually recorded in some way (it can be any medium depending on what the original format the data was in).  Easy enough?

Then, we moved on from data to knowledge, now knowledge, unlike information, is not always recorded – sometimes it resides in our memories (think of your pin numbers or passwords for credit cards and email accounts).

The three types of Knowledge

Fig 2 Three types of knowledge; Tacit + Explicit = Organisational

We learnt that there are three types of knowledge, ‘tacit’ which is the knowledge we store in our memories, ‘explicit’; the knowledge that we document for others – think about the tip sheet that you wrote for Richard for access in assessment two of Access.  The third type of knowledge is organisational knowledge,  organisational knowledge = tacit knowledge + explicit knowledge held by all of the systems and in all of the memories of all of the staff at an agency or business.  It is the organisational knowledge that a business or agency needs to capture to ensure that business operations will continue smoothly during periods of high staff turnover.  Organisational knowledge has been identified by business as a major asset.

Information management systems

Succinctly, an EDRMS is a great example of an information management system.  However, having said that, you must remember that records by themselves are just one component of information.

From information management systems we moved to knowledge management systems and we learnt that whilst knowledge and information are different, the way we manage them are the same.  In knowledge management, they are managed as part of a four level ecosystem.

Blogger

As a major part of this assessment, all students are to participate in contributing & utilising the blog page (as per "assignment" booklet).   

When you comment & contribute on the blog you will have an option of doing so anonymously or alternatively under a created profile.  Please refer to the details highlighted in my "welcome" email for further instructions.

If you have any trouble whatsoever creating your own profile or accessing Blogger please contact me immediately so that we can find a fabulous solution to get us through. 

Assignments and assessments

For this subject you will be required to utilise & contribute to a KMS (knowledge management system).   

All students have one due date for all work to be handed in – the due date is 15th October 2013 – what are you handing in?  All students are to submit the assessment tasks detailed in my "welcome" email.  Chapter review questions and activity questions in your workbook are not required to be submitted.  If you choose to complete them as part of your own learning and submit your answers, they will not be assessed.

Each week I will be posting a question for students to comment on.  These questions will be visible on the right hand side of this post, under the heading of "pages".  If you have any difficulties please contact me by phone to discuss.

I was very pleased at the initial response from face-to-face students for using the blog.  Based upon my observations you all got the hang of it quite quickly. You may be able to share your "tacit knowledge" on using blogs.  Please feel free to comment on the "Tips" page thathas been set up. Alternatively if you are still having difficulties please contact me by phone to discuss. 

It is in both of our interests that you become competent in utilising a KMS.  You; so that you pass the course and can begin to document your life’s journey on a blog (and maybe even a little spare $$$ in your spare time).  It is in my interest that you pass the course as that is the whole purpose why I am here, to facilitate and assist you in your learning.

For those interested, here is the handout provided in class.

Next week

We will start our introduction to Knowledge management systems.

On that note, have a great week – and remember to share the knowledge!

Ciao,

Melisa Z-G