Knowledge Management Strategy or Not,it’s a KM Environment Anyway: Factiva’s Response to the Business Information Resources Survey 2003

Offers a number of comments and observations on the Business Information Resources Survey 2003 from the viewpoint of the work and experience of Factiva. Points out that, despite the fact that many of the respondents to the Survey stated that the majority of their organisations are still without a clearly defined knowledge management (KM) strategy, many of the findings are encouraging for the overall business information provider industry and its vendors. The increase in respondents from the corporate and government sectors versus academia, public and association libraries in contrast to 2002 may be indicative of the fact that corporations remain the sector most likely to continue to pay a premium for value-added content. This is confirmed by the fact that five of the survey’s corporate respondents indicate an annual budget of over one million pounds. The increase in government respondents over 2002 may be a further reflection of the new, post-9/11 2001 era in which government entities are experiencing an increasing need to obtain more robust business and politically-oriented information in a timelier manner. Factiva’s launch of its Factiva Public Figures & Associates’ index in 2002 is, in part, a response to this new political climate and growing need. The survey’s results indicate a significant move towards a virtual information environment across all sectors as well as an overall increase in usage among most of the online information vendors, including Factiva and further indicates that this may be a result of periodical publishers offering more flexibility in their e-offerings. The Survey results succinctly capture many of the challenges associated with current knowledge management for the business library across all of its sectors.