Abstract
This study took cognisance of the fact that the term 'knowledge management' lacks a universally accepted definition, and consequently sought to describe the term using the most common co-occurring terms in knowledge management (KM) literature as indexed in the Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA) database. Using a variety of approaches and analytic techniques (e.g. core/periphery analysis and co-occurrence of words as subject terms), data were analysed using the core/periphery model and social networks through UCINET for Windows, TI, textSTAT and Bibexcel computer-aided software. The study identified the following as the compound terms with which KM co-occurs most frequently: information resources management, information science, information technology, information services, information retrieval, library science, management information systems and libraries. The core single subject terms with which KM can be defined include resources, technology, libraries, systems, services, retrieval, storage, data and computers. The article concludes by offering the library and information science (LIS) professionals' general perception of KM based on their use of terms, through which KM can be defined within the context of LIS.
Highlights
Despite this lack of understanding of the concept, knowledge management (KM) is increasingly becoming popular worldwide (Grossman 2007) and in a variety of disciplines and institutions/organisations
It endeavoured to answer some of the following inter-related questions: What are the processes mostly associated with KM within the context of library and information studies (LIS)? What are the core terms with which KM can be defined? Which terms can be used to describe KM processes and activities within the context of LIS? Which departments or sectors or professions associated with LIS ascribe to or practise KM? Which LIS activities fall within the scope of KM? In short, what are the LIS professionals' perceptions of KM?
We examined the perceptions of KM by LIS professionals using subject terms of the published KM literature as indexed in LISTA
Summary
Despite this lack of understanding of the concept, KM is increasingly becoming popular worldwide (Grossman 2007) and in a variety of disciplines (business administration, computer science, library and information science/studies, etc) and institutions/organisations (universities, business enterprises, governments, etc). A literature review reveals that the term is multidisciplinary in nature (Chaudhry 2005; Hazeri and Martin 2009; Hazeri, Martin and Sarrafzadeh 2009; Jacobs 2004; Onyancha and Ocholla 2006; Ponzi 2002:268; Roknuzzaman and Umemoto 2008; Sutton 2007) These studies, among others, identify the following disciplines as being the greatest contributors to or users of the theories and methods of KM: computer science; business; management; library and information science; engineering; psychology; multidisciplinary science; energy and fuels; social sciences; operation research and management science; and planning and development. It endeavoured to answer some of the following inter-related questions: What are the processes mostly associated with KM within the context of LIS? What are the core terms (in LIS) with which KM can be defined? Which terms can be used to describe KM processes and activities within the context of LIS? Which departments or sectors or professions associated with LIS ascribe to or practise KM? Which LIS activities fall within the scope of KM? In short, what are the LIS professionals' perceptions of KM?
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