A First-Ever Discussion Forum for Knowledge Services
Welcome to The KM/Knowledge Services Community
This first-ever knowledge services discussion group has now been established. The Meetup group grew from the LinkedIn Group now called the KM/Knowledge Services Community (formerly the LinkedIn Group was called the KM/Knowledge Services Group). The LinkedIn Group was created by Guy St. Clair in July, 2009.
Guy is the series editor of Knowledge Services for academic publisher De Gruyter Saur, in Munich and Berlin. He is also the consulting specialist in knowledge services at SMR International in New York. At Columbia University in the City of New York, Guy lectures in the School of Professional Studies, teaching “Managing Information and Knowledge: Applied Knowledge Services” (although the course is currently not being offered because of the COVID-19 epidemic). In 2011 he was also one of the creators of Columbia’s graduate program in Information and Knowledge Services (IKNS).
Guy will be moderator and host for the KM/Knowledge Services Community.
The community has been created to bring together people interested in networking and discussing subjects relating to knowledge management (KM), knowledge services (the merging of information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning), and enterprise- or organization-wide knowledge strategy. The Community’s purpose is to support those who work together and with others interested in achieving an agreed-upon objective or goal in order to build a knowledge-sharing culture.
These are people who want to learn how to support excellence and fairness in knowledge sharing. While most of the work in KM and knowledge services is generally thought to relate to business and management consulting, the principles and techniques of knowledge services can benefit any kind of organization. The organization can, of course, be a business, but it can also be a non-profit or not-for-profit organization, or a group of volunteers seeking to work together to succeed with a particular purpose.
Structure and Meeting Dates
The KM/Knowledge Services Community will meet on the first Wednesday of each month, with the first meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 5.
Participants will gather beginning at 12.50pm Eastern Time, and at 1pm, there will be a short presentation (ideally 15-20 minutes or so). [Note: the time has been chosen so U.K. and European colleagues can participate, as well as those in Western time zones.]
Following the presentation (which will introduce several discussion questions), the group will continue together with the discussion, responding to questions posed in the presentation or bringing up topics of their own relating to knowledge services.
To get us started, Guy will speak at the first two or three meetings. The May 5 topic is Introducing Knowledge Services. The June 2 topic is What Will Knowledge Services Be Like When the Pandemic Ends?
For future meetings, either Guy or another member of the KM/Knowledge Services Community will be the presenter and raise the questions for discussion. Each meeting of the Community will end no later than 2pm.
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Blogs from SMR International
SMR International publishes two blogs, both authored by Guy St. Clair. His professional blog is SMR’s Knowledge Services Blog, published at SMR International, the corporate site for the professional development and consulting practice with which Guy has been associated since 1982.
In SMR’s Knowledge Services Blog, the emphasis is on knowledge sharing, on the development of a knowledge strategy built on knowledge services, and on the transition of any community, organization, or business into a knowledge culture.
The posts for SMR’s Knowledge Services Blog serve two purposes, to advise knowledge strategists and those knowledge professionals (whether identified as “knowledge strategists” or not) who in their organizations have responsibility, authority, and accountability for knowledge services. Referred to as the approach to the management of intellectual capital that converges information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning into a single enterprise-wide discipline, knowledge services ensures the highest levels of knowledge sharing within the organization in which it is practiced, with – as noted – leadership in knowledge sharing the responsibility of the knowledge strategist. The blog has been published since July 2009.
The second purpose of SMR’s Knowledge Services Blog is to offer a practical strategic framework applicable in any environment, positioning the parent organization’s knowledge strategist with a recognized and authoritative role. As such, the blog posts are frequently used as learning resources for graduate students studying with Guy in Managing Information and Knowledge: Applied Knowledge Services, the course he teaches in the Postbaccalaureate Studies Program at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. The posts are also adopted frequently for professional development activities in a wide range of subject fields, to bring the study of knowledge services to those industries and professions.
An additional objective for the blog is to emphasize the value of knowledge services as a management methodology to any organizational colleague who might have questions about KM/knowledge services.
Guy’s personal blog is Sharing Guy’s Journey: Thoughts, Comments, Observations, Reactions, Enthusiasms, published since November 2009. The blog was started so Guy could share with friends and colleagues some of his experiences. Not always professional experiences, although there were plenty of those (shared in his professional blog). Sharing Guy’s Journey was created to be truly “personal,” for Guy to share things that happened to him or that were the result of some fortuitous circumstance for which he happened to be “in the right spot at the right time.”
Nearly 300 posts have been published in Sharing Guy’s Journey since it was started in 2009. As the blog’s tagline indicates, posts cover many different subjects. For the most part, topics like art and architecture, music, nature, and travel are all included, and history, personal history, and current events come up as Guy comes upon a subject that so intrigues him (there are many) that he wants to share his thoughts on that subject.
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The Knowledge Services Series from De Gruyter Saur
De Gruyter Saur (Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin), the scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature, has announced Knowledge Services, a new series designed to support the successful management of intellectual capital and to ensure the highest levels of knowledge sharing within the organizations in which knowledge services is practiced.
Knowledge services is defined as an approach to converging information management, knowledge management (KM), and strategic learning into a single enterprise-wide discipline, for the benefit of the larger organization. This work is the responsibility of the organization’s knowledge strategist or strategists, and the new series is specifically designed to provide guidance for these knowledge professionals (as well as for other knowledge workers who aspire to work as knowledge strategists).
The Series: Knowledge Services
The titles published in Knowledge Services are written to provide knowledge strategists with theoretical and practical advice for ensuring the level of excellence in knowledge sharing they are expected to provide. The new series presents and discusses new and innovative approaches to the management of intellectual capital used by knowledge workers worldwide, with series authors chosen for their ability to provide critical analysis of issues and to present solutions to challenges in knowledge services, in organizational knowledge sharing and – in particular – in knowledge strategy development.
In order to successfully achieve their organizational mission, all organizations must engage in and practice high-level knowledge services. Thus the discipline relates closely to organizational development and organizational behavior (generally described as relating to the study of human behavior in an organizational setting); knowledge services applications and practices connect closely with the human/organization relationship.
To meet the demand for better knowledge sharing, titles in Knowledge Services address a wide range of workplace environments, including legal studies and the practice of law, medicine and healthcare, manufacturing and industry, the military, business and financial services, the sciences, the management of cultural and performing arts institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs) and other development organizations, nonprofit management, sustainable development, architecture, politics and government, and all other results-focused organizations. Other titles in Knowledge Services include works by authors writing about the background of or a historical topic relating to knowledge services, such as for example, the growth and development of knowledge services in the general history of information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning.
The Series Editor for Knowledge Services is Guy St. Clair, President and Consulting Specialist for Knowledge Services at SMR International and Lecturer in Knowledge Services at Columbia University in the City of New York. Recognized previously in the library and information services and research management fields as the Series Editor for The Information Services Management Series (1993–2003), St. Clair is now known as the author of De Gruyter’s 2016 title, Knowledge Services: A Strategic Framework for the 21st Century Organization. In late 2019, De Gruyter published Guy St. Clair’s latest book, written with co-Author Barrie Levy, Associate Lecturer at Columbia University and Knowledge Services Coordinator / Knowledge Strategist at Kohn Pedersen Fox, Architects. The book, The Knowledge Services Handbook: A Guide for the Knowledge Strategist, is the first series title for Knowledge Services.
Two other titles in the series were published in 2020:
- Powell, Timothy W.: The Value of Knowledge: The Economics of Enterprise Knowledge and Intelligence.
- Garfield, Stan. Handbook of Community Management: A Guide to Leading Communities of Practice.
Two new titles are currently scheduled for publication and will be announced when available for purchase:
- Stepanek, Marcia: Knowledge Services and Knowledge Strategy: Closing the New Digital Divide (2021).
- Edler, Beatrice: Knowledge Services and Privacy-by-Design: The Nature of Doing Business in Modern Innovation (2022)
The new series presents and discusses new and innovative approaches to knowledge sharing used in all fields of work, with authors chosen to provide critical analysis of issues and present solutions to selected knowledge leadership challenges. Since knowledge services is industry and workplace agnostic, the series strives to present practical solutions that can be applied in all institutions worldwide. It thereby contributes significantly to improvements in knowledge management, knowledge services, knowledge strategy development, and knowledge sharing within the organization.
More information about Knowledge Services, suggested authors and/or titles, and further details about the series can be obtained by contacting Guy St. Clair at guy.stclair@columbia.edu or at guystclair@smr-knowledge.com.
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The Knowledge Services Handbook: A Guide for the Knowledge Strategist
by Guy St. Clair and Barrie Levy
Knowledge services is an approach to the management of intellectual capital that converges information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning into a single enterprise-wide discipline. The purpose of knowledge services is to ensure the highest levels of knowledge sharing within the organization in which it is practiced. Knowledge services is industry and workplace agnostic, with important management and leadership value to knowledge strategists and knowledge leaders in all types of organizations.
The Knowledge Services Handbook is a practical guide for the working knowledge strategist or anyone else working with knowledge services and knowledge strategy, designed to guide them as they embark on new knowledge-sharing projects or seek to strengthen knowledge-related practices already in place. The book is co-authored by Guy St. Clair, Series Editor for Knowledge Services and Lecturer in knowledge services at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA, and Barrie Levy, Knowledge Services Coordinator for Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Architects, and Associate Lecturer in knowledge services at Columbia University.
The Knowledge Services Handbook: A Guide for the Knowledge Strategist is the first title in De Gruyter’s new series on knowledge services. The series presents and discusses new and innovative approaches to knowledge sharing used by organizational management in all fields of work. The authors for the series are chosen to provide critical analysis of issues and to present solutions to selected knowledge leadership challenges in all workplace environments. The series strives to present practical solutions that can be applied in all institutions worldwide. It thereby contributes significantly to improvements in knowledge management, knowledge services, knowledge strategy development, and knowledge sharing within the organization.
Copies available: from orders@degruyter.com or from Amazon at Guy St. Clair Author Page.
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Knowledge Services: A Strategic Framework for the 21st Century Organization
by Guy St. Clair
In Guy St. Clair’s 2016 book, now considered the fundamental management resource for knowledge services,the emphasis is on knowledge sharing, on the development of a knowledge strategy built on knowledge services, and on the transition of any community, organization, or business into a knowledge culture.
In the book’s Preface, knowledge services is defined as:
“…an approach to the management of intellectual capital that converges information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning into a single enterprise-wide discipline. The purpose of knowledge services is to ensure the highest levels of knowledge sharing within the organization in which it is practiced, with leadership in knowledge sharing the responsibility of the knowledge strategist. This book is written to provide guidance for the knowledge strategist and to serve as a reference for that management employee.”
More information is available in the flyer for the book: Knowledge Services: A Strategic Framework for the 21st Century Organization, which can be accessed here.
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From Leader to Leader and the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum:
In the News: What’s Happening in Leader to Leader from Bruce Rosenstein, Managing Editor
Congratulations to Leader to Leader author Guy St. Clair, who has received the John Cotton Dana Award, the highest honor given by the Special Libraries Association/SLA. Guy accepted the award in June at the organization’s annual conference in Cleveland, when it celebrated its 110th anniversary. Learn more about his career and the award in the SLA article “‘Take Up That Torch,’ Dana Award Recipient Urges,” (https://www.sla.org/take-up-that-torch-dana-award-recipient-urges/) and in Guy’s blog post “From One-Person Library Management to Knowledge Services” (https://guysblog.smr-knowledge.com/from-one-person-library-management-to-knowledge-services/).
See below.
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From Guy St. Clair
Recipient, Special Libraries Association John Cotton Dana Award
Warm greetings to all Special Libraries Association colleagues and friends. SLA President Hal Kirkwood has informed me that I am to be the recipient of the SLA John Cotton Dana Award, and I am greatly honored.
Named for SLA’s founder and first president, the award is really a double honor for me, as I learned a great deal about John Cotton Dana when I was writing the association’s centennial history. It is truly a fine distinction to have my name associated with someone for whom I have so much respect (I wish I had known him). It will be a great pleasure to be with fellow SLA professionals on this very special occasion.
The award was presented on Sunday, June 16, 2019 at the Opening General Session of the SLA Annual Conference in Cleveland OH.
I am very pleased to share the citation for the award with SMR International friends and colleagues:
Guy St. Clair, president of SMR International, a New York-based consultancy specializing in knowledge services and knowledge strategy, will receive the John Cotton Dana Award, SLA’s top honor. Named for SLA’s founder and first president, the award is granted to an information professional to recognize a lifetime of achievement as well as exceptional service to SLA, to the library and information profession, and to knowledge management and knowledge services.
St. Clair served as president of SLA in 1991-1992, was named a Fellow of SLA in 1996, and was inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame in 2010. He has written widely about one-person librarianship (now called “solo librarianship”), knowledge management, and knowledge services. His 2009 book, SLA at 100: From “Putting Knowledge to Work” to Building the Knowledge Culture, traces the history of the Special Libraries Association from its founding to its centennial. Guy is currently the Series Editor for Knowledge Services, the new series from De Gruyter Saur.
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Guy St. Clair Leader to Leader Article on Knowledge Services (2017)
The one question most asked of knowledge strategists has to do with engaging senior management in knowledge strategy and in the development of the organizational knowledge culture. A solution is provided in Knowledge Services: Your Foundation for Building the Twentieth-First Century Knowledge Organization by Guy St. Clair. The article has been published in Issue 85 (Summer 2017) of Leader to Leader, the award-winning journal of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation). Guy is SMR International’s President and Knowledge Services Consultant. In the article, Guy provides direction for senior executives and organizational leaders seeking to initiate and implement knowledge services in the workplace.
