What is Knowledge Management?

MARA Blog

Published: June 22, 2016 by Anna Maloney

Students who earn their graduate degree from the MARA program have attained a well-rounded and current education in archives and records management. Specifically, “as a MARA graduate, you will be prepared to develop and manage records and information programs [and] to contribute to the organization by leveraging your expertise to analyze workflows and streamline business practices.” But could a MARA grad move on to a career in knowledge management?

KMWorld, the leading publisher and information provider on knowledge management, provides the following definitions of the subject:

1. “Knowledge management is the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using knowledge.”
2. “Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise’s information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers.”

Essentially, KM and RM are both commitments to collecting and codifying information, connecting people, and encouraging the positive exploitation and exploration of resources. Further, emerging trends in KM and RM are unsurprisingly similar, with some 2016 trends including more robust search functionality, enterprise collaboration, mobile technology, and a closer relationship with content creation (Eisenhauer, 2016). The most significant difference between the two fields is the distinction between records (format-independent documentary materials that evidence a transaction or event) and knowledge (information and skills acquired through experience or education). While KM does put more emphasis on maximizing the human element as a knowledge source, there is not a substantial departure from the realm of documentary media.

The MARA degree was one of four graduate school programs highlighted in an article published in the January 2016 issue of KMWorld, Gaining KM ‘cred’ in graduate school Academic programs help forge career paths.

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