Abstract
So, the world is upside down, everyone who can work in our profession, is now a remote worker but a remote worker under very different rules than how you would normally expect to work remotely. We are all working from home but with the added challenges of partners who may also be working from home sharing the wi-fi and in a lot of cases children too to take care of, home school and share the wi-fi with. Add to this the increasing demands information departments have seen on their services; this is a very challenging time.
These are challenges however, that everyone is rising to. The unique set of skills information professionals have to research and present reliable and verified information has never been more important as organisations adapt to keep business going wherever possible.
In discussions I have had recently I have heard others reflecting on how this situation which seems to quickly be becoming the ‘new normal’ will affect how we manage information and knowledge management in the future. Key tips for keeping a remote working team engaged and working together have been discussed in Jinfo's latest focus (https://web.jinfo.com/go/research/focus/remote_teams/). Utilising video conferencing as a norm for meetings in this remote working environment is a hot topic, not only are people more likely to stay engaged and not become distracted by emails or other alerts, it is easier to understand and respond to body language cues that you would miss on a call such as noting when someone wants to speak/contribute or when someone doesn’t understand. Visual cues contribute to a much richer communicative environment. Research undertook in 1971 and still referenced today by Albert Mehrabian states that the majority of face to face communication is non-verbal, and body language specifically accounts for as much as 55% with another 38% being attributed to tone of voice.
Staying connected and avoiding isolation is so important now we no longer have chance meetings in the corridor, at the coffee machine or water cooler. It is important to create new ways for knowledge transfer to flow freely. I have heard a number of clients who have virtual coffee hours or Friday ‘happy hour’ where the focus is on a wider ranging conversation and not just work orientated.
Many institutions such as CILIP, SLA, the Henley forum have embraced the online forum to keep the discipline alive and kicking during this time. David Gurteen’s knowledge cafes have also got a series of virtual sessions and many networking groups have also been following suit to keep the profession as connected as possible.
There is, however, a wider question for knowledge and information management strategy overall though as we continue to work remotely. Not only do we need to craft opportunities for connecting, sharing and transferring knowledge but storing, retrieving and governance of knowledge and information needs to be analysed and adapted too to ensure siloes do not develop or that anything gets lost. How will information, storage and governance be managed? This is an important question particularly as more and more organisations have taken on AI tools to help them better manage knowledge, information and data to the organisation’s best advantage.
Utilisation of the right tools and a strong governance policy that is widely communicated and closely monitored on what tool to use for what reason and how to use it is a good starting point. For example, email should not be used as a default communication for everything. All too often documents, and information can stay in email remaining inaccessible to others that may need to connect with that information at a later date. Each tool has its own elements that can give it advantages over others. For example, What’s App offers instant chat, video and sharing of documents. Zoom, WebEx and others offer video conferencing and facilities good for team collaboration and learning to name a few. Choosing the right set of tools and setting up a policy for utilisation and governance will be a key component of future strategies under the new normal.
AI features strongly in our issue this month. It has been increasingly used in current awareness to process more information and develop insights for organisations.
Its usefulness in information governance though is very much in its infancy. In a blog post from Iron Mountain ponder on how IA could be the answer to the challenges around understanding what information an organisation has, where it is, who can access it and whether it is compliant with the organisations information governance policies. A further blog post from Law Technology Today https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2019/09/ai-and-the-future-of-information-governance/ explores in more depth the challenge around governance of ever increasing amounts of data and information and how to connect with that quickly and efficiently to meet requests.
This month’s issue has a focus on how technology is impacting the workplace specifically how artificial intelligence AI is changing the world of work. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome a new regular writer, Sharon Richardson to our Out of the Box series. This issue sees the first of Sharon’s articles in the area of technological developments that could impact the world of information and knowledge management.
Denise Carter – AI, regulation and the role of the information professional
The potential for artificial intelligence to help and add value to the world of work is incredible but this needs to be offset with a good set of management and control procedures and policies. In this article Denise looks in depth into the area of regulation and governance. The article discusses some of the potential threats AI may hold if left unregulated. Denise takes a look at how governments, international economic organisations and others have approached this topic and considers the important role of the information professional in all of this.
Judy Payne – Knowledge management and information management: A tale of two siblings
Despite the longevity of the profession and its increasing importance to business as the role of information and knowledge management in organisations becomes of ever greater importance, confusion still reigns on the differences between knowledge management and information management. Judy discusses the differences and cross over between the two fields, looking back at how the disciplines developed and reflecting on how the terms are used and confused by both practitioner and the uninitiated. She hypothesises that ‘the solution might lie in closer future development of the two disciplines – as long as practitioners appreciate that KM and IM are distinct but complementary, we talk to each other, and we pay attention to the words we use’.
Sharon Richardson – Out of the box, affective computing in the modern workplace
In this article Sharon takes a look at Affective computing which refers to a ‘class of computer-based solutions that analyse data about human behaviour, such as facial expressions, gestures, and language, for its emotional information’. The article takes a look at the area which is starting to develop at a much faster pace and considers how it is being applied in real-world applications today. She takes a look at research from cognitive science and considers how technology has developed to a point where it is possible to produce cognitive algorithms capable of detecting human attention, emotion and health. The article forms an interesting discussion into the pro and cons of such a technology considering ethics of use, management of potential problems as well as the benefits such technology could bring.
Hal Kirkwood – Perspectives
Taking a new view on our Perspectives regular article, Hal has produced an introductory paper on his own perspectives and mental models to reviewing the information-focused research output within the SAGE journals. In this his first paper he looks at the area of fake news and looks at the research in this area considering whether increase literacy (information, digital, news etc.) has a positive effect on an individual’s ability to recognise fake news.