Book Description

Organising Knowledge
Organising Knowledge was a challenging book to write, because it is the first book I know of on taxonomy development that is explicitly aimed at practising knowledge managers. Much of the really good work out there comes out of library science or information studies referring to a much more generalised setting than those encountered by the knowledge manager – who typically works in organisations that are seeking pragmatic solutions to their information and knowledge needs centering on work-oriented documents, not publications. So there were no real precedents to rely on.

In writing the book, my intention was to frame the role of taxonomy work inside the larger knowledge management agenda. Hence, as far as I know, this is also the first taxonomy book that combines a practical guide to taxonomy development with a broader explanation of how taxonomy work contributes to knowledge management in a variety of ways.

As I worked on the book, I also realised increasingly that taxonomy work is not just useful in supporting information retrieval (which is the popular starting point for taxonomy projects), but as a key tool for supporting organisation effectiveness, expecially in supporting coordination across organisation boundaries.

I have tried hard to communicate a tricky subject in a clear, accessible style, and have been fortunate in people’s willingness to contribute detailed case studies to support the arguments I make here. A final chapter looks at where taxonomies sit in relation to folksonomies and ontologies. In this book, I hope, taxonomy work finally enters the knowledge management mainstream. If you buy the book, let me know what you think!

See inside the book:

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Defining our terms
Chapter 2: Taxonomies can take many forms
Chapter 3: Taxonomies and infrastructure for organisation effectiveness
Chapter 4: Taxonomies and activities for organisation effectiveness
Chapter 5: Taxonomies and knowledge management
Chapter 6: What do we want our taxonomies to do?
Chapter 7: Preparing for a taxonomy project
Chapter 8: Designing your taxonomy
Chapter 9: Implementing your taxonomy
Chapter 10: The future of taxonomy work

Buy the book

Visit the publisher’s website (Chandos UK)

RESPONSES AND REVIEWS

Lots have people have reviewed and commented on the book, Here’s my favourite, from Kim Sbarcea: “Patrick has brought sexy back to taxonomies!”

For more reviewers’ comments, you’ll find a compilation here.

2 Comments so far

Maphuti

I have never thought taxonomies were essential in KM initiatives until I read this book. In his book, Patrick shows the fundamental role played by taxonomies in helping organisations communicate effeciently through a series of case studies. A step-by-step guide during pre-taxonomy project offers practical advice for knowledge managers while ensuring that relevancy of the project is maintained. Great work, Patrick!

Posted on April 17, 2007 at 08:56 PM | Comment permalink

I just ordered Patrick’s new book via Swindon Book Online
and I’m very looking forward to reading it. Hope I’ll be able to write some comments here at a later time.
<http://www.swindonbooks.com/BookDetails.asp?isbn=9781843342274>

Posted on April 18, 2007 at 02:10 PM | Comment permalink

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