Product Description
Summary Taxonomies are often thought to play a niche role within content-oriented knowledge management projects. They are thought to be 'nice to have' but not essential. In this groundbreaking book, Patrick Lambe shows how they play an integral role in helping organizations coordinate and communicate effectively. Through a series of case studies, he demonstrates the range of ways in which taxonomies can help organizations to leverage and articulate their knowledge. A step-by-step guide in the book to running a taxonomy project is full of practical advice for knowledge managers and business owners alike. Key Features Written in a clear, accessible style, demystifying the jargon surrounding taxonomies Case studies give real world examples of taxonomies in use Step-by-step guides take the reader through the key stages in a taxonomy project Decision-making frameworks and example questionnaires Clear description of how taxonomies relate to technology applications The Author Patrick Lambe is a widely respected knowledge management consultant based in Singapore.His Master's degree from University College London is in Information Studies and Librarianship, and he has worked as a professional librarian, as a trainer and instructional designer, and as a business manager in operational and strategic roles. He has been active in the field of knowledge management and e-learning since 1998, and in 2002 founded his own consulting and research firm, Straits Knowledge, with a partner. He is former President of the Information and Knowledge Society, and is Adjunct Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Patrick speaks and writes internationally on knowledge management. Readership This book is written primarily for knowledge managers and key stakeholders in knowledge management projects. However, it is also useful to all information professionals who wish to understand the role of taxonomies in a corporate setting.It may be used as a teaching text for postgraduate students in Information Studies, Library Science, and Knowledge Management, as well as at MBA level.Contents Part One: Dealing with Babel - the problem of coordination; why taxonomies are important; definitions; taxonomy as a common language; taxonomies express what is important; socially constructed; the business case for taxonomies; taxonomies in KM, collaboration, expertise management and information management; taxonomies, typologies and sensemaking Part Two: Fixing the foundations: planning your taxonomy project - understanding your context; identifying and engaging stakeholders; defining your purpose; planning your approach; communicating and setting expectations; managing myths; how NOT to do a taxonomy project; a taxonomy as a standard; digital information, hierarchies and facets Part Three: Building the floors: implementing your taxonomy project - Implicit taxonomies; evidence gathering; analysis or sensemaking; validation principles and techniques; change management and learning; taxonomy sustainability and governance; taxonomies and technology; measuring success Part Four: Looking skywards: the future of taxonomies - complexity and sensemaking; taxonomies as sensemaking frameworks and patterns; taxonomies and serendipity; taxonomies and ambiguity; anti-taxonomy and folksonomies; taxonomies, ignorance and power; taxonomies and organisational renewal ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Outstanding
An outstanding book on developing taxonomies for repositories, companies, and websites. Packed with useful information and well worth the time.

Worth the money
My two co-reviewers appear to have a vastly greater experience in this field, and I was pretty much flying blind when I plunked down $60+ USD for a paperback.The other reviewers have a pretty good opinion of this book, and many of the alternative books suggested did not get great reviews. However, the other reviewers sound like experts and I wasn't sure the book would be useful to me, a beginner trying to get a maximum amount of understanding of taxonomy for a minumum investment of time and money.

They were right about the value of Organising Knowledge.I don't want "Taxonomy for Dummies" and O. K. is not that book, but it CAN serve the same need.If you are new to the field, or even if you have been doing this work in your company for several years and want to know more of what your company's taxonomy-Jedi Knights are talking about, start here.(If you are an expert, read the other reviews and make your decision.)

It is becoming my business to set up wikis for people.Reading Organising Knowledge is helping me to think about how to create the basic structures, rather than starting with randomly-selected keywords and hoping everyone will think of the same descriptors.

This isn't light reading.However, it's only difficult in that the material is new to me.The writing is clear and I'm not having any trouble following, if my brain would only not go off on so many side trail along the lines of "Oh, I could do THAT for this client..." or "NOW I see what those other clients were talking about..."

So:from the newbie seats--good book.

Fascinating and useful insights into taxonomies
Patrick Lambe provides excellent insights and tips for anyone facing a project to design and implement an enterprise content management system. Through many thought-provoking examples, he makes it clear that a collection of unstructured data is only as good as the effort that went into its organization, and he demonstrates the critical need for collaborating with the content providers and consumers to understand their thought processes and expectations. Some of the examples include some very uncomfortable lessons about the dangers of badly conceived taxonomies. He also makes the subject very interesting by placing the art of taxonomy in its historical context, showing us how various dynamic individuals developed classification systems that are now widely deployed and have an impact on everyday life. This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the implications of the enormous amount of digital information accumulating at an ever-increasing rate.

Organising Knowledge: Taxonomies Matter!
If I follow the writing principle of bottom line and idea first then I would have to say Patrick Lambe's "Organising Knowledge: Taxonomies, Knowledge and Organisational Effectiveness" is a five-star publication.Using the four-point scale Study, Read, Skim, Bin as a guide to the effort that might be invested, this book definitely warrants a Study rating.So what's so good about the book?

Well judging by my margin scribbles and underlining lots!First it is an entertaining, coherent and easy read.Patrick's assertion that - "If taxonomies classify, describe and map knowledge domains, then taxonomy work is made up of the things we must do to achieve that outcome:listing, creating and modifying categories, standardising, mapping, representing, discovering native vocabularies and categories, negotiating common terms" (p. 11) - resonates with me and is an example of the practical flavour of the book. Similarly I found Patrick's taxonomy forms - lists, trees, hierarchies, poly-hierarchies, matrices, facets, and system maps - to be a useful classification and a guide to why some taxonomies fail and others succeed.

I must admit that I had never considered in any detail how our reasoning patterns impact on our taxonomies.Most of us reason by beginning in the middle and generalising upwards and differentiating downwards.It's an interesting insight which explains why so many tree structures don't work. I suspect we like tree structures because they are easy to understand and they at first impose order onto chaos.

I do think one or two longbows are drawn with some of the examples in the book - the Victoria Climbie child abuse discussion being a case in point.The archetype typology - a special type of taxonomy - is another. Despite this the examples serve to show in a practical way how a well designed taxonomy can help in knowledge discovery and knowledge articulation.

Perhaps one of the most interesting insights in the book is the notion of taxonomies as boundary objects. A well designed taxonomy can allow different groups of people to find common ground and therefore communicate. One example is communication between amateur ornithologists and professional zoologists.Another is communication between economists and health professionals through the International Classification of Diseases taxonomy.

Patrick signed my copy on the 14th of August 2007, and wrote the following comment on the front page - "For Graham in the hope you will find this useful!"Well I've skimmed the book more times than I can remember, I've studied it twice, and read it twice (both in a single sitting)!The book is very useful and should be on the shelf of anyone who professes to be a knowledge management practitioner.In my view it should also be mandatory reading for students of library science, knowledge management and information management. I'm certainly convinced that taxonomies matter!

Regards Graham
... Read more

Product Description
In an effort to integrate the thought processes of prominent scholars in the field of Knowledge Management (KM), editors I V Malhan and Shivarama Rao K have selected contributions from these scholars and encapsulated them in a single volume. Compiled primarily to make information professionals and knowledge workers aware of the growing diversity and importance of KM, the comprehensive coverage provided in Perspectives on Knowledge Management will contribute to better understanding of the evolving and significant field of KM. ... Read more

Product Description

The revised edition of the single-best source of project management case studies

Compiled by Harold Kerzner, the leading authority on project management, Project Management Case Studies, Third Edition presents the most comprehensive collection of project management case studies available today. Featuring more than 100 case studies, this essential book illustrates both successful implementation of project management by actual companies as well as the pitfalls to avoid in a variety of real-world situations.

This new edition:

• Contains case studies illustrating successful and poor implementation of project management

• Represents a wide range of industries, including medical and pharmaceutical, aerospace, manufacturing, automotive, finance and banking, and telecommunications

• Covers cutting-edge areas of construction and international project management plus a new "super case" on the Iridium Project, covering all aspects of project management

• Follows and supports preparation for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam

Project Management Case Studies, Third Edition is a valuable resource for students, as well as practicing engineers and managers, and can be used on its own or with the latest edition of Harold Kerzner's landmark reference, Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling.

Other powerful tools by Harold Kerzner, Ph.D.:

• Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Tenth Edition (978-0-470-27870-3)

• Project Management Workbook and PMP®/CAPM® Exam Study Guide, Tenth Edition (978-0-470-27872-7)

Customer Reviews (6)

Good Seller - Highly Recommended
Great seller and comes highly recommended. Product was delivered as product and in condition as promised. THANK YOU!!! Great product @ great price!!!!

old material not applicable to today's business world
The antiquated examples were probably good in the first edition, but totally irrelevant in today's technologically advanced world. Most of the "problems" can be solved (and were) with modern technology. Not worth the time to read.

Reliable
This book was shipped to me in a timely manner, and the condition was exactly as was posted. I will definitely buy more books from this seller.

Very Good Reference For Project Managers
This book was part of my study package for a Masters course. It doesn't give guidance to new or "to be" managers. Instead, it gives real life examples of issues which a project manager is more likely to come across. It covers a wide span of applicaions; construction, computer related and manufacturing are among the many applications it covers. It is also based on the PMPBok. I would recommend te book for anyone who wants to further pursue project management as a career.

Long awaited book. Most useful if you are an experienced PM.
Classes that use Case studies seem to be common at the Harvard Business School but apparently not in the Project Management world. This is a long awaited book containing Case Studies from a respected author and Project Management guru. A detailed analysis of the Pros and Cons of this book follows:

First, a summary of what is contained in the book - 437 pages objectively documenting 68 real life Case Studies spanning the last 20 to 30 years and 1 very neat Time Management exercise at the end. The Case Studies are typically 3-4 pages long with a couple that are 40-50 pages long and a few that are only 1 page long. The Case Studies are roughly divided into 16 Chapters that don't necessarily follow the Process Groups or Knowledge Areas in the PMBOK Guide (PMI). Example chapter names are 'Negotiating for Resources', 'Project Estimating', and 'Project Planning'. Each chapter starts with a 1 page summary of the author's opinion on that topic - no more, no less! The Case Studies themselves sound like factual description of what happened with absolutely no judgment or analysis following any of the Case Studies.

Since I like to end a review on a good note, the CONS first - the blurb on the back of the book makes three claims out of which two are clearly suspect. The claim regarding the Case Studies covering a wide range of industries is definitely true. The claim regarding 'follows and supports preparation for the PMP certification exam' is not supported by the content in the book. The only way this claim would come true is if you attended a class led by a very competent instructor that can glean the relevant points from these Case Studies and present what you need to pass the PMP. The Instructor's manual is ONLY available through the publisher directly if you represent a University teaching Project Management curriculum. The third claim is regarding the book presenting the best practices and pitfalls of PM implementations in the real world. For this claim to be true, one would expect discussions of the Case Studies presented in the book by the author and a summary of lessons learned so you can understand what these best practices and pitfalls are. Without the best practices and pitfalls EXPLICITLY stated, how do you know for sure what they are? Isn't the assumption that you don't know them, one of the reasons for reading the book? Anyway, this does not happen anywhere in the book except very briefly and indirectly at the beginning of each of the 16 chapters (1 page per chapter).

The language used is sometimes hard to interpret. I was thrown off track quite a few times by some ambiguous statements and I had to read them carefully a second time to interpret them correctly. I have not noticed this problem with other Kerzner books. There are also quite a few typos and grammatical errors that may be common for a First Edition.

The last CON - I really wish the book had an extra 200-300 pages of Kerzner's interpretations of these Case Studies and his opinions of how things should have been handled. I would have paid three to five times the price of this book if that had been included. Oh, well. I will sign up for one of his classes.

Okay, the PROS - there aren't many books on Project Management that have real world Case Studies. And definitely not as valuable as the ones presented in this book. For this reason alone, this book is worth a LOT more than its price. And to top everything, these Case Studies are presented in a very objective way so that you can try to see things the way they really are and engage in educational discussions with a group of experienced professionals to gain not just PM knowledge but PM WISDOM.

The time management exercise (about 24 pages) is one of the best sections in the entire book. It is simple, yet worth spending time on. The Case Studies of the Denver Airport (under the Managing Scope Changes Chapter) and the Space Shuttle Challenger (under the Project Risk Management Chapter) are probably the most valuable Case Studies (in my opinion). These are the Case Studies that are 40 and 50 pages respectively that I mention at the beginning of the review.

The Preface carries a very important observation (and message) regarding how these basic project management mistakes are still being repeated even 20-30 years later in modern day corporations. This is very profound as it implies that these mistakes can be avoided by Project Managers that learn from the past mistakes made by other corporations (from these Case Studies). It is amazing that something so simple has not happened in the Project Management profession even after all these years.

I have treasured this book since the day I received it and I am looking forward to joining a local group of experienced Project Managers (meaning the Austin chapter of the PMI) to discuss and learn from these Case Studies. A definite buy AFTER obtaining the PMP Certification. In my opinion, it will only confuse the reader who is focussed on passing the exam to read these Case Studies that don't have any analysis associated or references to the PMP exam (I didn't find the word PMP anywhere between the covers of this book).

I hope you found this long and objective review helpful and that you benefit from these Case Studies. ... Read more

Product Description
The first edition of this book is regarded as a classic in its field. Now, in an expanded and updated version of The Art of Service's book, the authors once again present a step-by-step guide to Knowledge Management.

Everything in this book is tried, true, and respected in the field. The author has synthesized and made accessible the best practices and theory from a variety of sources and experiences, laying out the path forward in a clear and direct style that makes this one of the key guides for successful knowledge initiatives.

Complete, pragmatic approach and great supporting tools (document blueprints and templates). The essence of the book is a phased and step by step approach for capturing and disseminating knowledge, and measuring the impact of your efforts in the form of ROI and other performance metrics.

Covered are: Infrastructure evaluation, KM System Analysis, System Deployment and Infrastructural evaluation.

A few things stand out: the approach is laid out and the documents that come with the book has evaluation forms and checklists that will assist greatly every step of the way.

KM has matured beyond buzzwords and visions from people who have ideas but cannot implement, into an essential element of organization and process for companies that will survive. Implementing it is hard work, but this 5-star book will show you how.

Considering the increasing number of Professionals and their Organizations who want to be actively involved in Knowledge Management, this book should do at least as well as the first edition, which is a bestseller.

... Read more

Product Description
The Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management is the most comprehensive source of coverage related to the past, present, and emerging directions of knowledge management. Edited by the well-respected knowledge management researcher, Professor David Schwartz of Bar Ilan University (Israel), the Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management provides a broad basis for understanding the issues, technologies, theories, applications, opportunities and challenges being faced by researchers and organizations today in their quest for knowledge management. Hundreds of contributors and advisors from around the world have conferred their expertise to this publication, making this encyclopedia a single source of reliable and modern-day research in the field of knowledge management. The Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management documents the past, present, and possible future directions of knowledge management. The Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management provides a broad basis for understanding the issues, technologies, theories, applications, opportunities and challenges being faced by organizations today in their quest for knowledge management. ... Read more

Product Description
A framework for formalizing risk management thinking in today¿s complex business environment

Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge details the security risk management process in a format that can easily be applied by executive managers and security risk management practitioners. Integrating knowledge, competencies, methodologies, and applications, it demonstrates how to document and incorporate best-practice concepts from a range of complementary disciplines.

Developed to align with International Standards for Risk Management such as ISO 31000 it enables professionals to apply security risk management (SRM) principles to specific areas of practice. Guidelines are provided for: Access Management; Business Continuity and Resilience; Command, Control, and Communications; Consequence Management and Business Continuity Management; Counter-Terrorism; Crime Prevention through Environmental Design; Crisis Management; Environmental Security; Events and Mass Gatherings; Executive Protection; Explosives and Bomb Threats; Home-Based Work; Human Rights and Security; Implementing Security Risk Management; Intellectual Property Protection; Intelligence Approach to SRM; Investigations and Root Cause Analysis; Maritime Security and Piracy; Mass Transport Security; Organizational Structure; Pandemics; Personal Protective Practices; Psych-ology of Security; Red Teaming and Scenario Modeling; Resilience and Critical Infrastructure Protection; Asset-, Function-, Project-, and Enterprise-Based Security Risk Assessment; Security Specifications and Postures; Security Training; Supply Chain Security; Transnational Security; and Travel Security.

Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge is supported by a series of training courses, DVD seminars, tools, and templates. This is an indispensable resource for risk and security professional, students, executive management, and line managers with security responsibilities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Video Book Review for the most resourceful security manual I have read
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2I1OELY3LHGFI Read this book and enjoy the benefits it holds. Unlike the vast majority of technical security manuals, this book is very easy to read and extremely helpful in communicating the key points in order to achieve success and get immediate results.
Great visuals, practical case examples, insightful teachings, natural flow and based on actual experience.

Informative, relevant and essential reading
Simply put, essential reading for the security professional who wants intelligent and relevant information with explanations using up to date and structured methodologies that can be realistically implemented.

Readers don't have to security experts to read this, they just have to want to improve themselves and stay current with modern trends.

Worthy of reading several times over.

Excellent contempory body of knowledge on SRM
I like this body of knowledge of contempory insights on security risk management. This gives me great information, backgrounds and visuals to go with them.

Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge
A body of knowledge in this age is something which seems to expand at a frightening and sometimes unmanageable pace but a foundation needs to be put down somewhere, a place where people can launch off into that ever expanding interest.The Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge or SRMBOK does just this, it is a foundational text and reference library for professionals interested in security and risk management.For those who want to understand and develop their knowledge in security risk management, this is the place to start.The book is very well structured and provides excellent guides at the front to help navigate through the text, contingent on reading purpose.Like many text books SRMBOK is not for the faint hearted, its not the kind of test for a slow read on a sunny afternoon.SRMBOK is the kind of book to which you refer again and again, that sits beside the encyclopedia and other reference books.

SRMBOK is not, as it states, about "guns, gates and guards" or "ciphers, safety and society" but explores the dynamic concept of "providing resilience".The approach of the book is to help the reader map and navigate a way through the evolving and challenging landscape of security and risk.

SRMBOK explains the fundamentals of security and risk in clear language with excellent illustrations and graphics.The explanation of standards (eg. AZ/NZS4360:2004), legislative requirements and governance issues is articulated through plain (non-technical) language and complementary illustrations. A range of helpful tools such as the "swiss cheese", ALARP, Hierarchy of Control and "bow tie" matrix are set out and explained.Business integration, functional design and congruence with project management tools and methods are also explained.The section on auditing is practical as is the section on physical risks, and is followed by a comprehensive discussion of significant aspects of risk management, change management, ICT management, human resource management as they apply to security risk management.The book has a comprehensive lexicon and bibliography.

A Valuable Manual on Security Risk Management
Since 2001 attention has become understandably more focused on matters of security. Billions of dollars and millions of hours have been spent on devising responses to current and future threats. In this environment the discipline of security risk management (SRM) has received much more attention from business and government. However, to my knowledge the "Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge" is the first comprehensive attempt at summarizing the complex and varied elements that make up the discipline of SRM.

This book, which was originally published by the Risk Management Institution of Australasia and which draws on the contributions of almost 100 SRM specialists, provides a holistic overview of SRM, combining a broad survey of the major areas of SRM with a wealth of practical details and advice on how to use SRM tools.

It attempts to put some structure around the idea of "security risk management". For example, it postulates four strategic Knowledge Areas (Exposure, Risk, Resources, Quality) and four operational Competency Areas (Business Integration, Functional Design, Implementation, Assurance) that together contain important knowledge that any security team in any organization needs to have.

The "Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge" uses models (such as the "Swiss Cheese" and the "Bow Tie" models), checklists and templates to help practitioners develop analyses and action plans specifically related to the organizations whose security they are attempting to improve.

This book includes a comprehensive lexicon (50 pages of text and illustrations) of SRM terms and definitions. The book also incorporates a generous quantity of color diagrams which aid greatly in the understanding of complex SRM processes.

The "Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge" also contains a thoughtful discussion on the human factors in SRM and asks questions regarding the underlying root causes of security failures and regarding the roles of culture and organizational psychology in risk management. This approach broadens the whole concept of personnel security away from just employment screening and security vetting towards asking more difficult (but vital) questions such as why would well-intentioned, conscientious people deliberately put themselves at risk by doing "irrational" things such as sharing passwords or chocking a fire door open when they should know better.

In conclusion, this book can be highly recommended not only for security risk management professionals but also for all who work in any area of risk management and security. Its tools, templates and concepts are also helpful for people with responsibilities in fields such as safety, health, business continuity, intelligence, and fraud prevention.

Moreover, this book, with its logical layout, its case studies, its abundance of color diagrams, its lexicon and its bibliography, would be an ideal educational textbook in SRM for use in technical school and college courses and for use in consulting situations. ... Read more

Product Description
Unique volume adopts a knowledge-based approach that will complement and perhaps supplant other perspectives. Looks at the literature through the lens of strategic management and from the vantage point of organizational science. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding!
Everytime I open this book I learn something powerful to help make sense of the organizational environment around me.The book has a huge price, but it also offers huge value.

An Essential Compendium for the Serious Strategist
Not a faddish management consultant recipe book.This reference tome contains an important selection of the latest thinking on organizational management.The authors' various perspectives on managing from a knowledge perspective lead the reader to do some serious thinking.I find myself returning to it again and again for further insights. ... Read more

Product Description
The first tactical handbook that gives both the ways and means to manage the process that generates useable knowledge assets within an organization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

You want to run a KM project? Then READ THIS BOOK
Knowledge Management is a pretty complex subject, and I'm not going to try to detail everything that's covered in this book.
What I will say is this:

1. The book is comprehensive
2. The authors REALLY know what they're talking about
3. The book is packed with spot-on insights and excellent advice
4. There are a wealth of checklists that will help you to focus on what really matters
5. The book is well written (easy to read without being simplistic or patronising)
6. The authors REALLY know what they're talking about. And yes, I KNOW I said that already - But it is SO imnportant, and so rare!

At the time that I read this book I was working on a KM project for a subsidiary of one of the major comms companys in the UK. They chose to ignore the advice these authors provide, and today they're just one more company stuck on the "Oh we'd rather downsize than develop some genuine expertise" road to oblivion.

It is my perception that if they'd followed the advice in this book they would have had fewer layoffs and would be a lot more financially successful, today.

But they didn't, they didn't - and they aren't!.

You want to be amongst the IT winners? Read and use the information in this book.

You want to be a loser? Just ignore this book.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE.

knowledge management fieldbook
This book is a fantastic overview of knowledge management in the field of business. There are lots of questionnaires that can help facilitate knowledge management intiatives in your own company or business.The authors provide many case studies of how real companies have maximized their knowledge in ROI in technology, customer services, creating new products and in consulting practices.

This book is geared toward people with no prior interest in knowledge management, but also contains useful information for those who have been in the field since its inception.

Useful, practical reading.
You really get some tips to audit the processes in your company. Definitelya must-read for any executive in a bigger firm. Smaller firms normally have other things to worry about. ... Read more

Product Description
Ontologies provide a common vocabulary of an area and define - with different levels of formality - the meaning of the terms and the relationships between them. Ontologies may be reused and shared across applications and groups Concepts in the ontology are usually organized in taxonomies and relations between concepts, properties of concepts, and axioms are typically used for representing the knowledge contained in ontologies. With the growth of information available, e.g. on the WWW, they are popularly applied in knowledge management, semantic web, natural language generation, enterprise modelling, knowledge-based systems, ontology-based brokers, e-commerce platforms and interoperability between systems. This book looks at questions such as: * What is an ontology? * What are the uses of ontologies? * What types of ontologies exist? What are the most well-known ones? * How do I select the best ontology for my application? * What are the principles for building an ontology? * What methodologies should I use to build my own ontology? Which techniques are appropriate for each step? * How do software tools support the process of building and using ontologies? * What language can I use to implement ontologies? * How can I integrate ontologies in a given language? The book presents the theoretical foundations of ontological engineering and covers the practical aspects of selecting and applying methodologies, tools and languages for building ontologies. The applications of ontologies are also illustrated with case studies taken from the areas of knowledge management, e-commerce and the semantic web. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

worthwhile
There is considerable confusion over what is, and is not, an ontology. Unfortunately, in defining an ontology, this book doesn't provide any negative examples, meaning that confusion will most likely persist. Hopefully this shortcoming will be addressed in a future edition. That said, the book is nevertheless a valuable contribution to the field.

Complicated, Boring, and Irrelevant
The subject matter is much too complex, does not follow a logical order, is a slow and arduous read, and is not practical.

This book was the subject of a book club where I and a small group of software engineers wanted to learn more about ontologies. Most of the members of the group had some experience with ontology languages. In each one-hour lunch session, we were not able to discuss more than 10 pages at a time due to the complexity of the writing and the subject matter. We finally gave up and none of us has finished the book. Although we read over half of the book before giving up, we gained no practical knowledge from it whatsoever.

how to automatically extract an ontology?
The book shows progress in how ontologies are defined from various data sets. The subject is a natural field of artificial intelligence, in attempting to automated this filling of an ontology. Various example ontologies are presented, along with the markup languages like RDF and OWL in which these are expressed. The progress is visible, inasmuch as just a few years ago, these languages were devised. Now we see non-trivial ontology constructions using them. Good.

A large portion of the book describes the acute problem of somehow extracting meaning in a programmatic manner from data. Because the manual making of an ontology simply does not seem to scale, given the realities of gigabyte databases. We see that there is a natural decomposition of the problem into a linguistic step and a conceptual step. The former is tied to a particular human language. The latter is the nut of the problem. Current methods look promising, but are certainly not the last word.

Excellent survey book on Ontology
The book is well organized in introducing the subject in a coherent manner and weaving in all important criteria of ontology together. I especially like to read the comparison of different languagees in light of knowlege represenation and knowlege reasoing.The book is great in terms of getting a broad view (survey) and is also great as a reference.In many pages, there is so much information packed in each sentences.Great book.

A good literature review of current developments
The word `ontology' is usually associated with philosophical speculation on the reality of things, and if one checks the literature on philosophy one will find a diverse number of opinions on this reality. Engineers and scientists typically view philosophical musings on any topic as being impractical, and indulging oneself in these musings will cause one to lose sight of the topic or problem at hand. Rather than simplify the problem and make it understandable, philosophy tends in most cases to complicate it by endless debate on definitions and the use of sophisticated rhetoric that seems to have no bearing on the problem at hand. The conceptual spaces generated by these debates can become gigantic and therefore unwieldy, thus making the problem appear more complex than it actually is.

In the information age however, ontology has become a word that has taken on enormous practical significance. Business and scientific research are both areas that have increasingly relied on information technology not only to organize information but also to analyze data and make accurate predictions. In addition, financial constraints have forced many businesses to automate most of their internal processes, and this automation has brought about its own unique challenges. This push to automation usually involves being able to differentiate one thing from another, or one collection of data from another, or one concept from another. Thus one needs to think about questions of ontology, and this (very practical) need has brought about the rise of the field of `ontological engineering', which is the topic of this book.

The authors have given a good general overview of the different approaches to the creation of ontologies. There are many of them, some of which seem "natural", while others seem more esoteric. The reader though will obtain an objective discussion of the ontologies that the authors chose to include in the book. Discussions of the ones that are not included can readily be found on the Internet.

Given the plethora of ontologies that have been invented, it would be of interest to the ontological engineer to find common ground between them. The re-use of a particular ontology may be stymied by the different ontological commitments it is adhering to or it's actual content. In order to use it, it must therefore be "re-engineered". The authors discuss this prospect in the book, and define `ontological re-engineering' as the process where a conceptual model of an implemented ontology is transformed into one that is more suitable. The code in which the ontology is written is first reverse engineered, and then the conceptual model is reorganized into the new one. The new conceptual model is then implemented.

Also discussed in the book, and of enormous practical interest, is the automation of the ontology building process. Called `ontology learning' by the authors, they discuss a few of the ways in which this could take place. One of these methods concerns ontology learning using a `corpus of texts', and involves being able to distinguish between the `linguistic' and `conceptual' levels. Knowledge at the linguistic level is described in linguistic terms, while at the conceptual level in terms of concepts and the relations between them. Ontology learning is thus dependent on how the linguistic structures are exemplified in the conceptual level. Relations at the conceptual level for example could be extracted from sequences of words in the text that conform to a certain pattern. Another method comes from data mining and involves the use of association rules to find relations between concepts. The authors discuss two well-known methods for ontology learning from texts. Both of these methods are interesting in that they can apparently learn in contexts or environments that are not domain-specific. Being able to learn over different domains is very important from the standpoint of the artificial intelligence community and these methods are a step in that direction. The processes of `alignment', `merging', and `cooperative construction' of ontologies that are discussed in the book are also of great interest in artificial intelligence, since they too will be of assistance in the attempt to design a machine that can reason over multiple domains.

The ontologies that are actually built are of course not unique. This results in a kind of semantic or cognitive relativism between the environments that might be built on different ontologies, even in the same domain. Merging and alignment both address this relativism, along with other techniques that are discussed in the book. The selection of the actual language that is used to create an ontology is also somewhat arbitrary. The authors devote a fair amount of space in the book to the different languages that have been used to build ontologies. Through an elementary example, they discuss eleven different languages, namely KIF, Ontolingua, LOOM, OCML, Flogic, SHOE, XOL, RDF(S), OIL, DAML+OIL, and OWL. The choice of a language is dictated by what one is seeking in terms of `expressiveness' and what kind of reasoning patterns are to be deployed when using the ontology. The authors point to a tradeoff between the expressive power of the language and the reasoning patterns that are attached to the language. The expressiveness of a language is directly proportional to the complexity of the reasoning patterns that are used.

Ontological engineering as it presently exists is still carried out by a human engineer. To create an ontology every time from scratch would be tedious, and so it is no surprise that tools were invented to make ontology creation more straightforward. Some of these tools are discussed in the book, such as KAON, OilEd, Ontolingua, OntoSaurus, Protege-2000, WebODE, and WebOnto, along with assessments as to their utility. The discussion is helpful for newcomers to ontological engineering who need guidance as to what direction to take. The automation of ontology building would of course be a major advance.To accomplish this however would require that the machine be able to simultaneously and recursively construct the knowledge base and reason over it effectively. This is a formidable challenge indeed. ... Read more

Product Description
Reader-friendly survey of Knowledge Management (KM): a business optimization strategy that identifies, selects, organizes, distills, and packages information essential to the business of a company. Provides best practices in knowledge management, examines enabling technologies, and discusses implementation issues. Softcover. DLC: Knowledge management. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent overview of KM!
This is a very reader-friendly survey of Knowledge Management.KM is a business optimization strategy that identifies, selects, organizes, distills, and packages information essential to the business of a company. This book provides best practices in knowledge management, examines enabling technologies and discusses implementation issues.Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
The business environment has changed. Sharper competition requires organizations to exhibit greater effectiveness in their operations and services and faster creation of new products and services-all hallmarks of the knowledge economy. Up until now, most of the knowledge management literature has focused on technology, systems, or culture. This book moves to the next stage, to focus on the people-the knowledge workers themselves. Noted expert Karl Wiig synthesizes recent research findings in cognitive science and related fields to describe how people actually work. He focuses on how people learn, remember, make decisions, solve problems and act-in general, how knowledge relates to work behavior. By understanding how people work, managers can improve effectiveness to gain competitive advantage.

· First book to connect cognitive science with knowledge management
· Karl Wiig has worldwide name recognition as thought leader
· Clearly written for professionals with charts and checklists ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great subject, difficult to read
I needed this book for an MBA class. Overall, I found the book difficult reading. It was like it was written purposefully to use the most confusing and complicated overly-wordy language structure possible. There's no reason it had to be written in this manor. Writing texts like this can only discourage people from learning. It's a great subject that is absolutely essential for managers. But this book is a tough read, and that's saying something coming from an engineer :) ... Read more

Product Description
As the most comprehensive reference work dealing with knowledge management (KM), this work is essential for the library of every KM practitioner, researcher, and educator. Written by an international array of KM luminaries, its approx. 60 chapters approach knowledge management from a wide variety of perspectives ranging from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic. The chapters are conveniently organized into 8 major sections. The second volume consists of the sections: technologies for knowledge management, outcomes of KM, knowledge management in action, and the KM horizon. Novices and experts alike will refer to the authoritative and stimulating content again and again for years to come. ... Read more

Product Description
This book describes how Knowledge Management (KM) is applied at team and project levels. KM techniques such as Peer Assists, Project Retrospect, Technical Limit meetings, KM self-audits, and KM plans are covered, and helpful real-life examples from successful organizations will prove useful for anyone involved in a KM projectfrom small teams working on discrete activities to large, multi-company construction and development projects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A BOOK FOR PROGRAM AND TEAM MANAGERS
MESSAGE / CONCEPT

This book started slowly for me.But once I could see where Nick Milton was coming from, quite a few things "clicked".Being a project and program manager myself, some of his concepts resonated tremendously and I will implement them in some of the areas we work in including some of our clients.For example:

* His "learning before", "learning during" and "learning after" is a very useful and practical concept in any environment, but particularly in a project environment.This is encapsulated in Figure 1.6 on page 12.

* The techniques he offers to generate these learnings are grounded and realistically achievable.

* I particularly liked his discussion on knowledge engineers and knowledge managers because we actually use those terms in our business, but with slightly different roles.

* I am not enamoured with his Knoco Ltd 12-Component Framework for a Knowledge Management System.But if it works for him and helps him make sense of the issues including for his clients, then it is a good one.

His pragmatic approach through the whole book, plainly means he has considerable experience and it is quite full of good ideas that can be implemented in any project/program.For such a slim volume, it is certainly worth the effort to read.

WHAT WE LEARNT

We learnt that we need to take a more structured approach to "learning" within a program of projects and within projects and teams.We already have mechanisms for it, but I suspect they aren't sufficiently structured and robust to make them as useful as they could be.The solid list of techniques and methods that Milton offers will certainly come into our work.

We also learnt that we aren't "off the pace" with our approaches.Indeed, we are certainly "up there with the best", albeit with some different approaches.But as it is with everything, there is always room for improvement and Nick Milton's work will certainly be part of our improvement process and our own learnings, before, during and after. ... Read more

Product Description
John Muir was an early proponent of a view we still hold today--that much of California was pristine, untouched wilderness before the arrival of Europeans. But as this groundbreaking book demonstrates, what Muir was really seeing when he admired the grand vistas of Yosemite and the gold and purple flowers carpeting the Central Valley were the fertile gardens of the Sierra Miwok and Valley Yokuts Indians, modified and made productive by centuries of harvesting, tilling, sowing, pruning, and burning. Marvelously detailed and beautifully written, Tending the Wild is an unparalleled examination of Native American knowledge and uses of California's natural resources that reshapes our understanding of native cultures and shows how we might begin to use their knowledge in our own conservation efforts.
M. Kat Anderson presents a wealth of information on native land management practices gleaned in part from interviews and correspondence with Native Americans who recall what their grandparents told them about how and when areas were burned, which plants were eaten and which were used for basketry, and how plants were tended. The complex picture that emerges from this and other historical source material dispels the hunter-gatherer stereotype long perpetuated in anthropological and historical literature. We come to see California's indigenous people as active agents of environmental change and stewardship. Tending the Wild persuasively argues that this traditional ecological knowledge is essential if we are to successfully meet the challenge of living sustainably. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Review: "Tending the Wild" by M. Kat Anderson
This is an extraordinarily comprehensive and insightful book on a subject not well known and even less appreciated by the general public and many natural resource managers ---viz. the careful management and use of a diversity of plants by Native Americans necessary for their subsistence and daily life. It is basednot only on historical records and collections, but on many interviews with tribal elders,extensive field observations and skillfully-designed field experiments that replicate and confirm specific traditional agricultural/horticultural practices.It makes for very absorbing and enlightening reading.

Absolutely Genius
In her book Tending the Wild, M. Kat Anderson has painted a very different picture of indigenous peoples than most civilized people could even begin to fathom. She begins by taking us through the history of California and its Native peoples. Using accounts of explorers, missionaries, pioneers and anthropologists she shows how those of our culture came to California with no understanding or lens with which to understand native land management. Rather, like everywhere else, civilization saw resources to extract, came and conquered California and her people. With California's wildlife & Native cultures now decimated, newer research has shown that Native land management actually contributed to enhancing the biological diversity and abundance of life. Anderson argues that if we wish to restore our mutual relationship with nature, we must learn these ancient management techniques and implement them immediately. Although she uses only California Natives to back her thesis, we can witness these same principles among indigenous cultures the world over. This book works not only as a history of indigenous horticulture in California, but mostly as a beginners manual for those who seek to understand more about sustainable, indigenous land management. This book rocked my world. Don't miss out, buy it now!

Top 10 Environmental Book
In the last three years, I have watched 500,000 acres of San Diego county burn.I came to M. Kat Anderson's book after we nearly lost our home, which is neatly tucked between two pieces of reservation land; I got infinitely more understanding than I thought possible.She has given us a timely, well researched work, that gives homage to the people who came long before us.

This book will sit on my shelf, next to "1491" (another must read, Americas before Columbus).The land nourishes all of us, regardless of race, color or creed.We need to learn from the past practices, to better care for the land.Many environmentalists use "pristine" when describing wilderness, and it is a misnomer.Without fire, there are no sprouting redwoods.Controlled burns are necessary.But try and tell your local political leaders that.
Buy this book, read it and understand.

Splendid!
Kat,
its wonderful!!! Long live the Wendell Berry Club.
Miss ya,
Joseph and Linda the cattail botanist!

Instant Classic
This book should become required reading for all High School and University students, teachers, and researchers with an interest in North American anthropology, ethnobotany, botany, biology, historical ecology, fire history, forest management, and history.It will be of particular value to readers with an interest in cultural and natural resources management, agricultural sustainability, and federal Wilderness policy, among other topics.

The book is excellently written, organized, and indexed, for both general reading and specific reference uses.It is a wonderful addition to Anderson's other major contribution to science, Forgotten Fires. ... Read more

Product Description
In 'Key Issues in the New Knowledge Management,' Firestone and McElroy, the architects of the New Knowledge Management (TNKM) provide an in-depth analysis of the most important issues in the field of Knowledge Management.


The issues the book addresses are central in the field today:
* The Knowledge Wars, or the issue of "how you define knowledge determines how you manage it"
* The nature of knowledge processing
* Information management or knowledge management?
* Three views on the evolution of knowledge management
* The role of knowledge claim evaluation in knowledge processing, or the difference between opinion, judgements, information, data, and real knowledge in knowledge management systems
* Is culture a barrier in knowledge management?
* The Open Enterprise and accelerated sustainable innovation
* Portals
* How should one evaluate KM software?
* Intellectual Capital
* Measuring the impact of KM initiatives on the organization and the bottom line
* KM and terrorism

* The first book to address head-on the central issues in Knowledge Management
* Moves the discussion of knowledge management into the hot area of innovation
* Charts the next generation of knowledge management thinking by the President of KMCI: the leading KM organization ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

KM's Key Issues
Key Issues in The New Knowledge Management, by Joe Firestone and Mark W. McElroy, is the book that goes on - in some respects - where The New Knowledge Management (Mark McElroy, 2002) stopped. The book discusses the New Knowledge Management model, discusses theoretical underpinnings, and provides food for conversation and discussion regarding topics such as metrics of knowledge management, the organization's social capital and knowledge management standards.

Key Issues is one of the few works in the field of knowledge management that presents its model in a transparant way, open and ready to accept criticism. It is also a brave book, since it provides a an explicit knowledge theory, and normative stance to KM. More than enough edges to rub yourself against. However, the book does not seem to draw the ultimate consequence from the model, that positions KM as a source of corporate social innovation. The positioning is there, the argumentation strong, but there is no sign of practical elaboration of this aspect. Instead, this is left up to 'accountants', and it seems as if the authors define this aspect out of scope and remove it from their own working agenda. That is a missed opportunity, in view of the strong appeals made in TNKM, their earlier book. And it is contradicting the importance given to the issue in the model.

The book counts 350 pages and eleven chapters. The first five chapters deal with a thorough reflection on knowledge theory, and its implications for a knowledge management theory. Chapters six to ten deal with The New Knowledge Management Model. And chapter 11 is called "Conclusions", although it is 45 pages long and an interesting read on its own.

The authors carefully lay out the basic concepts of their model, taking a pragmatic and fallabilist perspective on knowledge. This means that knowledge development - a form of model construction - is led by pragmatic criteria. Knowledge is like a 'lense' used to define problems, develop acceptable solutions, and guide knowledge development. By making their model transparant, they provide openings to systematic scrutiny and discussion of their model. Even if the authors do not explicitly refer to it, I interpret the rationale of KM methodological approach to be an example of systematic, pragmatic model building. TNKM The KM model itself is laid-out in its various components as already available in my review of The New Knowledge Management, so that it is not necessary to discuss the model itself again.

In view of the model-character of knowledge, the heart of the matter of organizational KM is: what are the models governing decision-making and organizational behaviour, what is the quality of those models, and how can we improve those models in case we see that things go wrong in practice? The questions above make KM vulnerable to being misused, and to KM practices being ineffective or even destructive. This will be the case if KM practices are being used in a situation where basic assumptions or directives cannot be questioned (for reasons of misuse of hierarchy, power, ideology, desinterest etc.). The answer to this source of vulnerability is the normative concept of the Open Enterprise, which says that any assumption or priority should be open for discussion and scrutiny. Clearly, whether such a state will be present or not in an organization depends on the organizational culture and attitudes and ethics of actors. The degree in which such capacity is 'working', can be understood as the organization's social innovation capital. The normative element needed to pave KM's way to be a source of social innovation capital shows that KM as a pure instrumental management instrument can never be a solid source of innovation and renewal. And that is why the development of KM itself needs to expand into the direction of intangibles, social capital, and social development. In this respect, Firestone and McElroy do not challenge their audience as strongly as TNKM. TNKM demands attention for social innovation issues. But in Key Issues, the appeal seems to have dissolved into two streams. First, the element of learning and change still is present in the knowledge management life cycle, a core element of the books KM approach. But there, the innovation character isn't very strong, and 'just' part of a normal management process cycle. I doubt whether this will bring across the message as strongly as TNKM did. Second, the authors call upon the accountancy profession to improve on intellectual capital accounting and intangible reporting.

To conclude, Firestone and McElroy point to some really crucial aspects of KM, and provide a comprehensive knowledge management model. However, they seem to leave it up to non-qualified others to put their ideas into practice. Since social innovation and intangibles are such an important element of TNKM, I wonder why the authors seem to define the issue out of scope in their working agendas. ... Read more

Product Description
Inquiring Organizations: Moving from Knowledge Management to Wisdom assembles into one volume a comprehensive collection of the key current thinking regarding the use of C. West Churchman’s Design of Inquiring Systems as a basis for computer-based inquiring systems design and implementation. Inquiring systems are systems that go beyond knowledge management to actively inquire about their environment. While self-adaptive is an appropriate adjective for inquiring systems, they are critically different from self-adapting systems as they have evolved in the fields of computer science or artificial intelligence. Inquiring systems draw on epistemology to guide knowledge creation and organizational learning. As such, we can for the first time ever, begin to entertain the notion of support for "wise" decision-making. Readers of Inquiring Organizations: Moving from Knowledge Management to Wisdom will gain an appreciation for the role that epistemology can play in the design of the next generation of knowledge management systems: systems that focus on supporting wise decision-making processes. ... Read more

Product Description
For the public sector, which is globally the largest employer of people and repository of information, managing information and knowledge is an extremely problematic area to address.The essence of both resources is that they are intangible, their impact and value cannot be measured through traditional accounting methods, yet they are also, paradoxically, where the greatest value and potential for improvement is located. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Basics
An introductionary text, but needs to be updated since in many
cases there have been lots of changes after the publication yr 2000 (transferred to digital printing 2005). ... Read more

Product Description

This is the first book to provide a step-by-step guide to the methods and practical aspects of acquiring, modelling, storing and sharing knowledge. The reader is led through 47 steps from the inception of a project to its conclusion. Each is described in terms of reasons, required resources, activities, and solutions to common problems. In addition, each step has a checklist which tracks the key items that should be achieved.

Product Description

Supported by business application case studies, this book describes the theory and methods underlying Concept Mapping. Developed as an educational strategy, Concept Mapping has been applied with increasing frequency to problems in the workplace. Concept Maps differ from other diagrams by their morphology, content, and semantics. The text provides access to CmapTools, a knowledge modeling software kit that by enabling the computer-based creation and sharing of Concept Maps has encouraged diverse applications. The text presents original work from the authors as well as that of contributors who have applied Concept Mapping in industry.

Product Description
Identifying, measuring, and valuing knowledge-based intangible assets: new perspectives highlights the importance of intangible resources in business management, the need for a strategic analysis that enables them to be identified and assessed, and solutions to these challenges. Aimed at executives, practitioners, academics and students, this book demonstrates new models and methods that allow progress to be made on the task of intangibles management, which is the fundamental source of wealth in the knowledge economy. ... Read more