Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) for libraries: The implementation strategy and development issues for management

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to outline the KMS implementation strategy for libraries. In addition, its also highlights the KMS development issues for management. Designing the KMS strategy for the library would be the first step towards the implementing the KMS as total solution. This KMS would never be successful until a proper goal is set and then a strategy is designed accordingly. The KMS implementation strategy must be aligned with the libraries business strategy, or else its will fail to accomplish goals that are tangible to the library. KMS implementation strategy approaches basically deals with business domain issues and Information Systems (IS) domain issues to capture, store and disseminate organizational knowledge both tacitly, explicitly and electronically so that this knowledge can be utilized across the borders. Recent research has focused more on implementing Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) in corporate sectors, which identify knowledge as a new weapon in competitive market. However, there is a paucity of study concerning the KM and KMS implementation in the libraries, despite the fact that KM and KMS practice is demanded in knowledge society. Most of libraries have already employed IT to support various activities from administrative jobs to user education. They have begun using IT, which reflects some of the characteristic of KM processes without labeling it as KMS. For example, they used email to share and exchange information, they capture data and store it in organizational database and some of them put user education notes in websites. These activities are part of KM processes that are facilitated by IT which could be referred as KMS.