December 24, 2009

A Reading List for Personal Knowledge Management

I recently created a reading list of materials on PKM. The idea of a "personal" approach to knowledge management has been a focus of my work for more than 10 years now. Originally there were very few of us writing about this topic (Pollard, Skyrme, Cope, Frand, Dorsey, etc) while the idea had some vocal critics (you know who you are). In the past few years, the subject has become both popular and socially acceptable. Along the way, my own views have evolved considerably.

In general, I'm interested in how the individual fits into increasingly social, collaborative and networked views of knowledge, learning and work. On one hand, I have explored the principles, values, skills and tools necessary for each of us to make our best contributions to collective efforts. On the other hand, I have increasingly focused on the notion of "citizenship"as it relates to cognition, cultures and craft in organizations.

You can filter my blogged posts under the category "self-organization" to see thoughts as they emerge. However I have also published dozens of articles on PKM in books, magazines and journals. Here is a brief list (under construction), along with another list of articles by others that I have found useful.

NOTE: My first pass at this page is basically a drag-drop from my citation manager, Mendeley, so apologies for the appalling format and links. I see that there are also many of my favorite references still missing (filed elsewhere), along with dozens of my own articles. I’ll clean it up as soon as I have more time. The best references are highlighted in bold. All of my “Personal Toolkit” columns are still available from KMWorld. My articles from Knowledge Management magazine and destinationKM are not currently online, which I hope to rectify soon.

Please send your suggestions!

Dec 24, 2009 12:10:36 PM | Self-Organization (personal knowledge management), SenseMaking (cognition, learning, KM & CI)

1 Comment

Atle Iversen

Many interesting titles, but I'll wait until you've got it more organized (or maybe a quick peak at the bolded references) :-)

This is a topic I'm very interested in, so I'll add a shameless plug for my own 2 cents with regards to personal knowledge management

- http://www.ppcsoft.com/blog/km-3.asp

I would really appreciate comments from you on the series...

Posted by: Atle Iversen | December 25, 2009 at 11:55 AM

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My Original PKM Article In December 2000, I published "The Power of One" as the cover story in Knowledge Management Magazine. Although a number of people were already combining the three words, the article was one of the first widespread mentions of the idea of "personal" knowledge management. It seems obvious, but it is not often said that knowledge management works best when knowledge workers take the initiative and responsibility for what they know, don't know and need to know. Doing so not only makes the individual more valuable to the corporation, it also enhances the value of intellectual capital for the corporation. The original article is reprinted HERE. Many of my subsequent articles, columns and book chapters on PKM are HERE, along with a reading list of useful material by others.

Steve

Steve Barth consults to international government, NGO, academic and corporate clients. Recent work has focused on organizational learning and KM strategies in economic development and peace and security. Award-winning writer specializing in organizational intelligence and knowledge worker productivity.

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