As an intern working on the annotation of a species’ genome, I realized that the amount of invaluable knowledge being generated by such a project was colossal. The knowledge obtained from this species’ annotation could be used in other related genomes and sometimes in drug discovery as well. However, there was no structured way for sharing this knowledge among the various research groups around the world. Managing the knowledge would have tremendously benefitted not only this project but many more that were to follow.
Having done data management as part of the genome annotation project, I wondered if it was simply semantics at play here. So, let us first review the difference between the terms data, information and knowledge. Data is raw facts and figures, while information consists of patterns of data. Knowledge, although derived from information, is richer and more meaningful than information and is created through an interactive social process. Explicit and tacit are the two categories of knowledge, of which, explicit knowledge refers to documented information such as processes, methodologies, services etc. and tacit knowledge refers to people’s knowledge a.k.a their experiences, ideas, relationships, skills etc. In the case of genomics and bioinformatics research projects, all three types of management would be significant to make better decisions and increase productivity in R&D.
Knowledge management, or KM as it is often referred to as, originates from the idea that people’s knowledge is the most valuable resource of any organization. Hence, Knowledge management aims at providing collective knowledge to an individual at the right time and in the right place. If the concept of knowledge management still sounds vague, here are some definitions that can help clarify the terminology:
- “In higher education, knowledge management can be defined as the set of organizational processes that create and transfer knowledge supporting the attainment of academic and organizational goals.” (Townley, 2003)
- “A KM approach is the conscious integration of the people, processes, and technology involved in designing, capturing, and implementing the intellectual infrastructure of an organization…It is what enables people within an organization to develop the ability to collect information and share what they know, leading to action that improves services and outcomes. “(Petrides, 2004)
If you would like to know more about the human genome project and where we stand today to keep the geek in you happy, watch this video by Dr. Eric Green!
References
Townley, C. T. (2003). Will the academy learn to manage knowledge? EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Number 2. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0321.pdf
Petrides, L. A. (2004). Knowledge management, information systems, and organizations (Research Bulletin No. Volume 2004, Issue 20). Boulder, Colorado: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0420.pdf
Nuzzo, A., & Riva, A. (2009). Genephony: A knowledge management tool for genome-wide research. BMC Bioinformatics, 10, 278. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19728881
Stein, L. (2001). Genome annotation: From sequence to biology. Nature Reviews.Genetics, 2(7), 493-503. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11433356
Guest Blogger
Prashanthi Selvanarayanan is a graduate student in the Instructional Design and Technology program at the University of Memphis. She assists faculty in the Department of Higher and Adult Education with online course design and development. Her research interests include technology integration and mobile learning. She aspires to be an instructional developer in the healthcare sector which combines both her interests.
Nice job Prashanthi! Be sure to read Makoto Nakano at some point.
Thank you, Michael. I’ll be sure to read it.
Prashanthi,
I find such fascination in tacit knowledge and its value on performance. I wonder if one day we will be able to quantify it or identify it. Have you come across any research on that?
Thanks for including the link on the Sanchez’ paper, very interesting.
Suha, to me tacit knowledge and its effect on organizational performance is particularly interesting in the field of software development as languages often change and identifying the techniques for best practices becomes a bigger challenge. Quantifying tacit knowledge seems to be an on going area of research. A couple of articles that I came across on this topic are “Measuring & Assessing Knowledge-Value & the Pivotal Role of the Knowledge Audit” by Dr. Ann Hylton and “A quantified approach to tacit knowledge management in R&D environments through the use of Document-based user profiles” by Joris Vertommen and Joost Duflou. Fostering communities of practice seems to be a recommended approach to manage tacit knowledge in a rapidly changing business environment.