UNIT 16 KNOWLEDGE PROFESSION

Structure
16.0 Objectives
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Knowledge Profession
16.2.1 Normative Principles of Knowledge Resources Management and Services

16.3 Emerging Knowledgebased Environment

16.3.1 Factors Influencing Knowledge Access and Delivery
16.3.2 The Digital Environment

16.4 ICTs Application Areas

16.4.1
16.4.2
16.4.3
16.4.4

Education and Research Support

E-Governance and Management
Some Solutions to the Information Overload Problem Knowledge Manager
Mobilisation of Human Knowledge Resources

16.5 Knowledge Professional and Knowledge Management

16.6 Knowledge Products
16.6.1 Knowledge Products Development and Marketing
16.6.2 Knowledge and Skills for Content Organisation in Wed-based Products

16.7 Library and Information Science Professional as Knowledge Professional

16.8 Preparing Knowledge Workers of the New Millennium
16.9 Summary
16.10 Answers to Self Check Exercises
16.11 Keywords
16.12 References and Further Reading

16.0

OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit, you will be able to:

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recognise the attributes of a Profession in general and of the Knowledge

Professionin particular;

appreciate the qualities and abilities expected of a knowledge professional

in action;

know the categories of knowledge professionals;

adapt existing normative principles of library service to knowledge

resources;

understand more about knowledge-based products and the knowledge and

skills necessary to produce them;

comprehend the nature of computer-mediated work; and

appreciate how the knowledge worker of the new millennium be trained

even from childhood.
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16.1

INTRODUCTION

Our society is changing from an economy based on the assets of capital and
energy to one based on assets of knowledge and information. Our library and
information profession which was peripheral part of industrial age, has now
become central part of information/ knowledge age. We live in an age of
increasing complexity with regard to the range and quantity of information
available.
The 1990s have seen great change in the way organisations are viewed as
production-oriented entities divided by function and controlled by layers of
management. On the other hand it will be knowledgebased organisation in
which the employees knowledge is the organisations primary asset. Successful
organisations in knowledgebased economy will be those that can differentiate
their services from others in terms of personalised, localised, specialised, and
customised services. They will have to develop new economic strategies, better
understand user needs, develop skills of staff and users, and develop new
services. The ability to weave information and knowledge into flexible and
adaptable structures will be a necessary asset. This is a role that becomes more
central in the new millennium organisations. It needs flexible, adaptable
individuals, who can manage, change innovatively, imaginatively, and
proactively recognising new opportunities and grasping new challenges. In
other words, just as we are seeing different professions converging on the
emerging community of knowledge practice we also witness the emergence
of specialist knowledge professionals. These professionals are variously titled
as: Knowledge engineers, Knowledge editors, Knowledge analysts, Knowledge
navigators, Knowledge gatekeepers, Knowledge brokers, Knowledge
handyman, Knowledge asset manager, etc. with different functions and
responsibilities. However, we have to understand that all these are knowledge
workers who will be engaged in the activities of creating, using and distributing
information and knowledge in an organisation.

16.2

KNOWLEDGE PROFESSION

Before we discuss about knowledge profession let us try to know what a

profession is. The dictionary tells us that it is a paid occupation especially
one involving training and a formal qualification. Dale (2001) suggests two
other definitions:
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a calling requiring specialised knowledge and often long intensive

academic preparation

an occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires

considerable training and specialised study.

For a profession to be accorded societal recognition, it would seem that a

number of criteria have to be met:

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there must be an identifiable subject which is not immediately accessible

to the uninitiated person;

there must be a long apprenticeship involving the learning of both theory

and practice, and the application of the latter;

the application of the subject matter of this apprenticeship must be useful

to the society;

the profession must promulgate standards for the products and services
that are produced and delivered by its members; and

members of the profession are individually responsible for the standards

of their work and for their professional conduct but are a overseen by a
professional body that has the powers to ensure compliance.

Knowledge Profession

A profession involves a set of activities undertaken in a specific area / field.

The persons undertaking these activities are called professionals. Bhattacharya
enlists the following attributes of a profession:
i)

It must have a goal of public / social service;

ii) It must be practised;

iii) Its practice must call for long and intensive education and training,
primarily formal and secondarily informal, in the branch of knowledge or
field of specialisation;
iv) The extent of knowledge and skills acquired by an aspiring professional
must give him/her a clear idea of the why, what and how of the
professional tasks, he/she is to carry out;
v)

Every aspiring professional must commit himself/herself to continuing

education and training to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in
professional practice even as the field of specialisation advances;

vi) A professional must maintain a high standard of performance, ethics, and

conduct;
vii) A professional must self-evaluate or get evaluated periodically by peer
groups and he/she be alert about any inadequacy of the education and
training for the profession at the formal level, and if any deficiency is
noticed / experienced he/she must try to make up for the deficiency;
viii) A professional must realise that his/her foundation discipline is amenable
to continuous development to meet the changing needs of the society he/
she serves, taking advantage of relevant new developments in the theory,
practice, techniques and technologies; and
ix) The essential contents of the knowledge and skills constituting any
professional discipline are amenable to generalisation, and can be enriched
through interdisciplinary interactions, collaboration, cooperation, and
exchanges.

16.2.1 Normative Principles of Knowledge Resources

Management and Services
As mentioned in previous section the study and research in a subject or branch
of knowledge are usually guided by a set of normative principles.
Dr. S.R Ranganathan enunciated the Five Laws of Library Science (more
appropriately Five Laws of Library Service)

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Books are for use

Each reader his/her book
Each book its reader
Save the time of the reader/Save the time of library staff
Library is a growing organism
He also defined the concept Book as made up of the trinity:
1)

Soul the ideas / knowledge embodied;

2)

Subtle body the language of expression, format, illustrations, style etc.

of the presentation of the ideas embodied; and

3)

Gross body the physical carrier of the ideas embodied.

New types of gross body - physical carrier have been devised over the years:from marking on walls to palm leaves, to paper, film, microchip, to digital
media. New types of subtle body presentation, format, etc. corresponding
to the newer forms of embodiment and physical carriers of ideas have emerged.
However, irrespective of the changes in the physical carrier and the form and
format of presentation of the ideas. what people seek, search for, access and
use has remained the same, that is, ideas / knowledge embodied.
Therefore, for the knowledge profession Ranganathans Five Laws of Library
Service can be adapted, as enumerated below, as the normative principles of
knowledge resources management and service in all types of organisations.
1)

Knowledge is for use (implies that knowledge if not used has no value)

2)

Each user (knowledge seeker) his/her piece of knowledge

3)

Each piece of knowledge (idea) its user

4)

Save the time of the knowledge seeker / save the time of the knowledge
professional

5)

Knowledge (re)sources domain is a growing organism.

Here growth comprehends both physical growth as well as organic biological

growth, such as, degeneration of existing cells and (re)generation of new cells.
Developments in information and communications technologies (ICTs), in
particular, have brought in many significant changes in the subtle body and
gross body which necessitate new approaches, strategies, techniques, etc. to
enable deriving maximal advantage of the developments in satisfying the
knowledge seekers needs. In other words, these new developments, judiciously
used, can assist in meeting the implications of normative principles 2, 3, and 4
mentioned above.

16.3

EMERGING KNOWLEDGE-BASED
ENVIRONMENT

16.3.1 Factors Influencing Knowledge Access and Delivery

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The service of the Knowledge Professional (KP) is mainly a supporting function

to the corporate entity he/she is called upon to serve. This function is affected

by the developments and changes in the socio-economic and technological

environment in which the KP performs.(See Units 14 and 15 of this course).
Briefly, we may notice.

Worldwide shift from a mainly agriculture-based and industry-based

economy to information economy and on to knowledge economy. Such a
shift may be more pronounced in the industrial countries than in the
developing countries, although in all countries all the three economies
may co-exist concurrently though in different proportions.

Rapid growth in knowledge and information-intensive products and

services.

Enabling even less developed countries develop faster and compete with
the so-called developed countries.

Intensification of knowledge utilisation in the production of traditional

products as well.

Manual production workers being substituted / replaced by information /

knowledge workers in various sectors of the economy.

New types of knowledge / information-intensive organisations devoted

mainly to the production, processing, and distribution of knowledge-based
products.

The significant impact of the rapidly evolving ICTs on enterprises.

Knowledge Profession

Knowledge is embodied in nature, its manifestations and offerings, and in

made-made artifacts. It is also embodied in documents whatever be the physical
carrier or medium of presentation (text, image, graphics, tables, sound, or
multimedia). The most important source of knowledge and information is people
within and outside the organisation, including their tacit knowledge, skills,
conventions, traditions, practices, etc.
In this context there appears to be several claimants to be included in the KP.
For example, Stewart (1998) discussing knowledge product development and
marketing writes: You can instill knowledge in homely old products like
toasters, distill it into fancy new ones like best-practices studies or offer it as
service only you can provide. The knowledge economy rests on three pillars
the growing role of knowledge in transactions, where it is becoming the stuff
that we buy and sell, our raw material and our finished goods; the concomitant
rise in importance of knowledge assets, which transform and add value to
knowledge stuff; and the emergence of ways to manage these materials and
assets. The last knowledge management, especially management of
knowledge materials gets the lions share of attention, perhaps because it
has a pride of glamorous, clamorous sellers who have created a multibilliondollar industry in half a decade.
The field of knowledge management encompasses every big consulting firm
and hundreds of software shops, and it seems as if every large company is
buying in, one way or another. Every company whether it is high-tech or
low, New Age or old-line can gain from managing knowledge better, just as
it can from superior financial management.

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Other claimants include: database designers; content developers and organisers,

information /knowledge aggregators, knowledge products distributors, web
page designers, web portals designers, Internet service providers, and so on.
Self Check Exercise
1)

Define a profession. Give examples to differentiate a calling from a

profession.

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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16.3.2 The Digital Environment

Writings on information systems and information retrieval, knowledge
management (KM), corporate portals, digital libraries and web-based
information and document management technologies increasingly express
concerns about the information overload to information seekers and information
providers arising from the emerging web-centered, digital world. The need for
better methods of knowledge organisation is also evident from these writings.
Heterogeneous Embodiments of Knowledge
Examples of the heterogeneous and multiplicity of electronic data/digital
information available and accessible via intranets and extranets (e.g. the
Internet) are email, listservs. Customer comments, communications between
staff members of an organisation and peers in a professional group, internal
research reports, trade and technical publications, competitor and other web
sites, e-journals, e-prints and other e-documents, and a large number and variety
of web sites.
Self Check Exercise
2)

Enumerate the different types of knowledge professionals.

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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Knowledge Profession

Instant Access to Original Works

During the next decade, some 30 per cent of all conventional publications and
audio, video records are expected to be produced and stored in digital form
and format. With electronic publishing and distribution, the material can be
accessed on the network as soon as the author has keyed in the text or created
the graphs, images, etc. Copies can always be made from the original master.
Mechanical aspects of printing and publishing and of resources directories
can be bypassed.
Better Connected: More Interactions
By the end of 2003 more number of people was connected via the Internet
than ever before. Half a billion people around the world had access to Internet
from their homes. Of these nearly 500 million could surf the web. People from
Asia continued to connect faster than anywhere else (home access grew by 5.6
per cent during the last quarter of the year. (Nielsen/NetRatings, Hong Kong).
Convergent technologies text, audio, and video, TV will facilitate virtual
teamwork, global access to experts, video conferencing, etc.
Direct Access - No Intermediaries?
Information seekers will have direct access to relevant information wherever
located, for rapid awareness of content, and to discover new ideas and
relationships therefrom. This will be facilitated by e-publications via networks
without the intervening services of editors, indexers, publishers, and perhaps
even librarians in their current avatar.
Some call these changes a paradigm shift and is reflected in the information
support function of libraries in such changes as mentioned below [Soundara
Rajan, 2002]:
Table 16.1: Information Support Functions of Libraries: Paradigm Shift

From

To

Ware-house-like function

Research support, management

support, with desk-top delivery
at home, office or anywhere
else

Desk-bound, waiting for service request

Pro-active service

Mainly paper-based document collections Limited paper-based collection;

more information from digital
resources available within and
outside of the organisation even
at global distances
Mainly bibliographic service, some with
abstracts, annotations

Value-added services, analyzed

and repackaged knowledge;
knowledge-based products

Library management and operations

use of ICTs, mainly manual

Knowledge management; fuller

intranets and extranets

16.4

ICTs APPLICATION AREAS

Application areas and types of applications of ICTs are many. Some are
enumerated below as examples:

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16.4.1 Education and Research Support

Onsite information delivery: Researchers, teachers, scholars and others need
not personally visit knowledge resource centres, e.g. the library. They can
browse online the library catalogues and other resource directories. Electronic
methods can deliver the required text pages, images and voice recordings to
users in their place of work, dormitory, home or wherever they are saving
travel and other costs. Thus ICTs have enabled:
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Seamless access within organisation and globally;

Scholarly communication made easier and global;

Virtual team research and discussion fora; and

Digital library products and services.

16.4.2 E-Governance and Management

Wide range of applications of information communication technologies. For
example:
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Resources management; health care delivery; disaster management; crime

detection; forensic work; environment protection, etc.

Inter-departmental linking for better information access, flow, cooperation,

and coordination.

E-governance; telecentres. Sub-national level (State, District, Taluq,

Village) linkages within each domain and with other larger units and
nationally.

16.4.3 Some Solutions to the Information Overload Problem:

Knowledge Manager
Knowledge managers in enterprises attempt to meet the information overload
problem by analysing, filtering, selecting, and synthesising products in which
the information is maximally relevant, organised and convenient to the category
of users. In such work another objective is to lower the cost of tasks that require
discourse / content analysis, by using automated methods wherever possible,
without compromising on the relevance and quality of information provided.
For meeting these needs, a rapidly growing group of software products called
enterprise KM products has come up. Numerous vendors have entered the
KM market with a wide variety of products purported to manage and control
the great quantities of textual and other information that drive organisations of
all kinds. The tools and products in the KM market include, among many
others, search engines, natural language processing software, document
management systems, and groupware products.
Self Check Exercise
3)

Enumerate the different KM tools and products.

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

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ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.

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Knowledge Profession

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16.4.4 Mobilisation of Human Knowledge Resources

As already mentioned the most important source of knowledge and information
for an enterprise is people within and outside the organisation, including their
tacit knowledge, skills, conventions, traditions, practices, etc.
The knowledge management system should identify the human knowledge
sources who they are, where located, what are their specialisations, what
sources they use, etc. Who is asking what questions to whom? What responses
and information flows take place? How these can be mobilised, supported,
and drawn upon? With the cooperation of the human sources, a sort of digitised
yellow page may be developed for the information provider as well as
information seekers can make use of.

16.5

KNOWLEDGE PROFESSIONAL AND

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The course material for Unit 15 overviewed the definition, role and methods
of Knowledge Management (KM), an area that the KP is increasingly involved
in. Here we highlight some of the principal issues:
Enterprises need expertise in KM to sustain and enhance their competitive
advantage in an environment of growing competition for resources finance,
human, and physical resources, markets, etc. The knowledge manager, at all
levels, is expected to possess special capabilities for creating, mobilising, and
communicating knowledge available within the organisation as well as
elsewhere. Knowledge embedded in the organisations business or work
processes and in the employees including their expertise, skills, experiences,
build the enterprise capabilities to create, produce and deliver customers what
they need, when and where they need it The KP has to design and develop
systems and strategies to provide the push to this know flow and use. First of
all creating a Knowledge Yellow Page as it were, to know who is asking what
questions and to whom; who is answering what questions; what source materials
(internal documents and external sources) are being used; which queries do
not find answers within the organisation and so on.
Enable interpersonal interactions through seminars, group discussions, video
conferencing and the like ICTs can facilitate.
KM is introduced to help an organisation of whatever nature to create, share,
and use knowledge effectively because it pays off in fewer mistakes, less
redundancy, quicker problem solving, better decision making, reduced research
and development (R&D) costs, increased worker independence, enhanced
customer relations, and improved services to customers. Knowledge support
functions are needed to implement KM in an organisation.

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Another perspective that accelerated the enthusiasm for KM and the

development of knowledge products is the richness versus reach thesis. It is
pointed out that the nature of communication has drastically changed. Until
now, one had a choice of richness or reach, but one could not achieve both
simultaneously. A face-to-face conversation, for instance, is rich in content,
nuance and interactivity but poor in reach. A radio or TV broadcast has great
reach but is poor in interactivity and nuance. Communication strategies were
always an either-or choice. With the Internet, it is argued that we can craft
systems that provide both richness and reach. This has necessitated a rethink
on how information and knowledge are shared within organisations, an
important concern of businesses wishing to harness knowledge. Knowledge
products targeted to specific domains, together with the use of the web as the
delivery medium, it is possible to provide the richness and reach sought for in
organisations.
Crucial and value-adding knowledge: The decision to invest in knowledge
depends upon knowing what knowledge is relevant and crucial to the
organisation and what knowledge adds value. Crucial knowledge includes the
ever-changing dynamic knowledge necessary to operate within the industry at
an acceptable level. It may be obtained through consultation with experts,
their tacit knowledge that manifests as problem-solving behaviour. The
continued availability, development, and retaining of experts in the organisation
with such problem-solving proneness and capability is an important aspect of
human resources management.
The Internet, intranets, email and groupware make more data than ever before
available to the knowledge worker. Customer / user comments, communications
between staff members of an organisation and peers in a professional group,
internal research reports, trade and technical publications, and competitor and
other web sites are some examples of available heterogeneous electronic data.
As a result the literature on KM, information retrieval, corporate portals, digital
libraries and web-based information and document management technologies
express concern about the information overloaded, web-centered digital world,
and the need for better methods of knowledge organisation. How can the KP
mitigate this overload and consequent stress? Providing for filtering, document
and data analysis and repackaging services.
Traditionally libraries and publishing industry handled the acquisition and
dissemination of generic knowledge in the form of books, journals, reports,
conference proceedings, etc. These are more in the nature of study and reference
materials. With the Internet and electronic form of storing and distributing
knowledge, libraries have begun offering some of the generic body of
knowledge in the form of objects databases. New information suppliers have
emerged like the database designers, aggregators and distributors. Journals
and databases in diverse fields such as commerce, economics, agriculture,
statistical data, health information and multimedia content are increasingly
available in electronic form. This is a challenging and complex new
development in several ways for the library community for several reasons as
cited below [Srivathsan, 2004; Haravu, 2002]:
a)

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IT (information technology) today is still evolving in both technology

and management sense. Issues like security, privacy, fair use, intellectual

property issues copyright and ownership virtual organisations

management, etc. have arisen.
b)

There are emerging needs to support virtual knowledge driven enterprises

where members from different organisations pool together the requisite
information and competencies to offer services of value over the web to
users. These call for appropriate methodologies to manage information
resources generation and utilisation. We may call them, as explained later,
as thematic communities.

c)

The user of information ultimately gains value from the information

provided it is the right information available at the right time, in the right
place and in the right context as and when he/she is engaged in knowledge
intensive work. Hence effective value proposition goes with efficient
organisation of knowledge-related activities like interaction, group
collaboration, messaging services, etc.

d)

The Internet and IT world itself is swiftly changing over from the client
server interactions to seamless peer-to-peer interactions over web accessed
information and interaction services. Users may access information from
anywhere independent of the client systems they use.

e)

With ever increasing proportion of information in complex multimedia

and digital form, there are immense challenges ahead concerning archiving
and retrieval of the same. With sophisticated technology needed for access
and playback of the same, the world is yet to intelligently grapple with
preservation of human heritage over the coming decades. This calls for
reinvention of computer systems and information presentation devices
such that the technology to a good extent may evolve reasonably
independent of modalities of knowledge creation and its utilisation in the
society.

Knowledge Profession

In the above context, we have to consider not only the information sharing
aspects per se, but need to look at the dynamics of how this information is put
to use by its users. Here it will be useful to identify as to how we use information
in the real world when we are engaged in knowledge driven activities.
Self Check Exercise
4)

Discuss the functions of a knowledge professional.

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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16.6

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS

16.6.1 Knowledge Products Development and Marketing

The designing, development and marketing of knowledge products is an
important activity of the KP. In the write-up for Unit 15 we have discussed the
two main dimensions of knowledge product development: the collaboration
dimension and the semantic dimension. Some case studies have been presented
by Haravu and Neelameghan (2003).
Stewart (1998) emphasises, Knowledge strategy should not stop with KM. It
should not start there either. It should start with a strategy for selling knowledge.
Knowledge can be sold as explicit knowledge or as implicit knowledge.
Creating knowledge products: 1) Having some knowledge and asking How
can I make it into a product; and 2) Answering the question How can we add
knowledge to the product we have got? In (1) K is distilled and packaged,
and sold. In (2) it is instilled and sold.
With respect to information resource centres, what is implied in instilling
knowledge in existing products is that value can be added to the services and
products offered in libraries and information centres such that users can derive
intelligence (e.g., business intelligence) from such presentations to assist in
their management activities.
Marketing of knowledge-based products is an important area that the KP must
acquire skill through training and experience.
The first step in developing a knowledge product marketing strategy is to find
out what knowledge customers are seeking (and buying) Stewart point out
that often these are hidden. A lawyer sells more than knowledge of the law,
for example negotiating ability, relationships with other lawyers, and
knowledge of his clients priorities are also part of his product line. Next step
is identify alternative ways of providing the knowledge the form, format,
presentation, language, etc Different knowledge packages have different
economics, which might mean different strategies. What channels and delivery
mechanisms may be used to reach the enquirer and perhaps also other potential
users also needs consideration. Another aspect is will the service pay for itself,
will user(s) pay for the added value?

16.6.2 Knowledge and Skills for Content Organisation in

Web-based Products
A crucial aspect of the design and development of web-based products and
services relates to content organisation. Knowledge and skills needed for content
organisation cover the following:

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Web information architecture.

Internet-based information services.

How are the applications accessed?

Issues in content hosting.

Content formats. and

Tools for content creation and processing.

Web information architecture

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Web servers and browsers.

Web sites and URLs.

Anatomy of a web site.

Knowledge Profession

Applications
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Internet-based applications in a library.

Requirements: Library web site as the integrating factor.

Information about the library and its services.

Locally owned and remote digital sources.

Push-based services.

Housekeeping operations.

Other content / services:

Training materials and guides.

Administrative, procedural manuals. and

FAQs feedback

Self Check Exercises

5)

What is meant by instilling knowledge in information products?

6)

Enumerate the knowledge and skills needed for content organisation.

Note: i) Write your answers in the space given below.

ii) Check your answers with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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Accessing the Applications
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Integrating the services through the library website Web browser used for
web site access and browsing through HTML pages.

Selecting a link.

Browser compatible format.

Content Hosting Issues

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Content Formats for the different files and records.

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What content is to be given access?

What delivery medium is needed?

Web-enabled content: - creation, format, storage, delivery techniques,

tools

Security required for purchased content (Locally hosted, Remote sources)

Some Principles, Methodologies and Strategies

Many of the methods for knowledge organisation in the web environment are
based on principles, which librarians have long discovered, understood and
used. For instance, classification schemes, subject headings, authority files
and thesauri. Add to this knowledge mapping, self-organising maps, etc. In
addition, library and information professionals have made significant
contributions to the theories that underlie classification schemes and thesaurus
development that are applicable to web-based content development too.
Research being carried out to explore the usefulness of some of these theoretical
insights in the context of new methods now being developed to manage the
great quantities of textual and other information that drive the web, should be
further expanded and supported, rather than reinvent the wheel.
Related Knowledge
Information and knowledge managers should also be well aware of:
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Legal and Ethical Issues;

Vulnerability of digital records; susceptible to manipulation;

Little control over Internet content;

Junk; porno stuff;

Confidentiality; security, encryption;

Hacking; virus;

Cyber crimes; cyber-terrorism; and

IPR issues: Copyright, cyber laws .

Politics / Geopolitics of ICTs

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Power of information and ICTs;

Information on rights, privileges and responsibilities of citizens, women,

children, and those socially, physically and/or mentally challenged;

Empowerment;

Digital divide;

Control over information dissemination;

selective filtration; complete blackout;

control over media; file transfer, etc; and

mis-/dis-information; data manipulation.

Computer-Mediated Work

Knowledge Profession

As already mentioned there is growing impact of ICTs on activities of

enterprises and on those of the information resources centres. Thus, the KPs
knowledge of human-machine interaction has to be rethought and broadened..
Conceptually, computer-mediated work, interaction design and other concepts
focus on these new concerns. The KP needs to deal with or collaborate with
other professionals to deal with the emerging technological challenges, the
variety of technologies dynamically interconnected in complex webs spaces.
The KP will also recognise that the emerging convergent technologies are
being used by new groups of users, in different configurations and contexts, in
the work place, at home, and on the move. The KPs work has to be more and
more co-operative and collaborative with other professionals in information
intensive and dynamical work settings. Such cross-disciplinary collaboration
may give rise to new theories, and new design methods and approaches to
systems that encompass more adequately human-machine interactions and
relations and address such issues as machine-mediated work, collaboration
among heterogeneous groups of professionals and knowledge users, and
learning processes in such environments.
Self Check Exercise
7)

How does the Knowledge Professional tackle the various issues before
him in the information field?

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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16.7

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

PROFESSIONAL AS KNOWLEDGE
PROFESSIONAL

We have noted that there are several groups who may claim to belong to the
Knowledge Profession. Obviously Library and Information Science (LIS)
professional also has legitimate claim to be included in the knowledge
profession. The LIS professional has the education, knowledge and skill to
manage large collections of knowledge resources of various types including
their electronic versions. The LIS professional is also knowledgeable and has
the skill and experience of many decades in the processing, organisation, and
retrieval from such sources to produce various types of information products
and services desired by end-users. Manual and technology-based tools and
techniques for accomplishing such tasks have been developed. However, LIS
professionals need to: (1) expand their horizon vis a vis their potential clientele,

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and (2) extend interaction and collaboration across disciplines and user groups
of different interests and service requirements.
Of the two principal dimensions of KM, already mentioned Semantic
dimension and Collaborative dimension LIS professionals have long been
performing adequately in the semantic dimension. But in the collaboration
dimension they need to advance much further [Srivathsan, 2004]. The
investment and effort in this dimension will not only enable them obtain
feedback of the use of the existing information system but also develop their
capability to move closer to providing full fledged knowledge-based products
and services to all categories of users assist in knowledge discovery and
innovations, etc. by applying techniques and technologies available in other
specialisations (e.g. natural language processing, artificial intelligence, imaging,
web-design, etc.).
It is widely accepted that an LIS professional, especially one who has to manage
and organise information resources in specialised fields and interact with and
provide information services to subject specialists will perform better if he/
she has a background or analytical knowledge of the main subject area(s) of
the user groups. This issue is even better appreciated in the case of a KP
However, it has also to be recognised that a KP possessing such an ideal
competence combination of subject knowledge with expertise in knowledge
resources management may not always be available. In large organisations
there may be teams of subject specialists and information specialists working
together to derive best of both worlds as it were. In smaller organisations,
which are much larger in number, such teams may not be realised easily. More
often than not, it is for the LIS professional to acquire domain knowledge.
In the training programme at the Documentation Research and Training Centre,
Bangalore, this matter received attention from the beginning in 1962. Firstly,
the admission to the course was restricted to candidates with a Masters degree
level knowledge in a particular domain. The courses offered included such
modules (and practices) to enhance the competence of the information
professional to acquire domain knowledge. For example:

432

1)

Universe of Subjects: Its Structure and Development;

2)

Design and Development of Depth Classification Schedules for a specific

knowledge domain theory and practice; involves domain analysis,
structuring, knowledge organisation, etc.;

3)

Design and development of other knowledge organisation tools and

techniques indexing, and thesaurus;

4)

Preparation of a report on the trend of R&D in a particular domain;

5)

Information resources in specialised fields;

6)

Interactions with potential information users in a particular organisation

(e.g. a manufacturing company); and

7)

Designed lectures by domain specialists on the highways and byways

of selected subject etc.

Bhattacharyya has elaborated on the content of such courses, the teaching /

learning strategies adopted, and the type of competencies built up. Feedback
from the graduates of the programme indicates that course contents and teaching
methodology adopted did help most of the graduates acquire competence in
developing their knowledge of specialised subjects and thereby become efficient
and effective in preparing knowledge-based products and services.

Knowledge Profession

Hjorland (2002) discusses several approaches to domain analysis, to acquire

domain specialisation. These include: producing literature guides and subject
gateways; producing special classifications and thesauri; research on indexing
and retrieving specialities; empirical user studies; bibliometric studies; historical
studies; document and genre studies; epistemological and critical studies;
terminological studies; discourse studies; studies of structures and institutions
in scientific communication; and domain analysis in professional cognition
and artificial intelligence.
Self Check Exercise
8)

Discuss the advantage to LIS Professionals of developing expertise in

collaborative dimensions of knowledge management.

Note: i) Write your answer in the space given below.

ii) Check your answer with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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16.8

PREPARING KNOWLEDGE WORKERS OF

THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Librarians and other information professionals are educating themselves on

new developments in ICTs and KM. During the past decade education and
training in information science and cognate subjects have become available at
school and higher education levels. There are programmes designed for young
children to become computer literate so that they will fit in comfortably and
derive greater benefits in the emerging digital age.
Dr. Michael Medland has given some thought and devised programmes for
the knowledge worker of the new millennium. He is involved in research on
meta-cognitive tools for improving learning skills of young children the
potential knowledge workers of the 21st century, as he calls them. He is interested
in Dr. S.R.Ranganathans facet analysis and synthesis in knowledge
organisation, and has been successfully teaching this mode of thinking to fouryear olds. Extracts from his correspondence / writings are given below:
What will the literate citizen be doing in the new millennium?
Those with a futuristic bent give a very simple answer: citizens will be
knowledge workers doing knowledge work. Knowledge work is an individual
or group process (activity) of unpacking the contents of knowledge sources

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Knowledge and Society

(analysis) and then packing the knowledge found (synthesis) in order to answer
a learning problem. What is this new literacy?
1)

The new conception of literacy seeks to instill tomorrows citizen with

more than just content.

2)

Reading, science, and mathematics learning are highly related in the

context of the new literacy.

3)

Knowledge workers will be continually learning throughout their lives;

thus, they will need to learn rapidly and enjoy that learning.

4)

Knowledge workers will participate extensively in collaborative and

concurrent activities to produce knowledge.

5)

All citizens will be engaged in knowledge work to help their enterprise

move successfully into the future.

The enterprise could be the knowledge workers family, the community, the
corporation, or the government. In addition, there is more to a citizen than
being just a knowledge worker the values for instance. Yet developing
knowledge workers, those with enough literacy to contribute, is an important
task to ensure the continual development of the nation.
How can we guarantee that our children will become knowledge workers?
Dr. Medland answers this question by breaking it into seventeen applied
research questions, supplying a possible answer to each, and then outlining a
five-year research project to produce the products that will begin to move all
children toward becoming tomorrows knowledge workers.
Within this framework another issue will be: What would a language code
look like and do?
A research direction can be found within the fields of artificial intelligence
and information science. The artificial intelligence community has turned to
the examination and construction of ontologies to deal with disparate
backgrounds, languages, and techniques. From the practical side, an accepted
ontology is a commitment to use a common language to talk about knowledge
(content) in a domain. It is a way to talk about a knowledge base (domain) so
its contents can be parsed, represented, searched, and expanded.
Knowledge Sharing Criterion
What is an ontology for? It is for knowledge sharing and reuse. In the process
of building sharable and reusable ontologies, the artificial intelligence
community has taken an engineering approach to their design: evaluate them
to the extent to which they promote the goals of knowledge sharing and reuse,
and then revise to achieve greater effectiveness.
By using the ontology (a common language), users can share knowledge. From
a psychological perspective, knowledge sharing is a social activity. Moreover,
by using language to talk about what is known, it becomes a meta-cognitive
activity. Thus, ontological language functions as a meta-cognitive tool to grasp,
relate, share, and promote knowledge.
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Knowledge Reuse Criterion

Knowledge Profession

Knowledge reuse refers to the ontologys ability to handle an expanding

knowledge-domain. This is a helpful criterion, but incomplete for teaching
and learning purposes. The educational community needs an expanded reuse
criterion. It would make no sense to posit a new ontology for each subject
domain. Such would just burden and muddle the thinking of learners; it
would cripple the assimilation and accommodation of knowledge. Therefore,
there needs to be an across-domain criterion for the ontology. Students and
teachers would learn one ontology and then apply it to all knowledge domains
to expedite the teaching and learning process. Students can make queries and
assertions about what is learned, and to quickly assimilate and accommodate
knowledge. This is the heart of the knowledge workers task. Essentially, it
would give muscle to the skeletal process of getting meaning from text.
Across-Domain Criterion
The fields of information science, knowledge representation, and database
design have methods for knowledge-base construction, retrieval, and expansion
that can help our understanding of just what an across-domain ontology must
do. All libraries, or database engines, catalogue embodied knowledge. Every
catalogue system takes embodied knowledge and codes it for retrieval
(Neelameghan, 2000). The encoding mechanism, with its categories and
subcategories, is ontology: a way to fracture the world of embodied knowledge
so that it can be placed in a database and retrieved. The Dewey Decimal, the
Library of Congress, and the Colon Classification Systems, to name just a
few, are all ontologies. In addition, they all possess one thing in common: they
have symmetry. The classification scheme is the same one used for retrieval.
Ranganathans (1963) analytic-synthetic method, as part of his Colon
Classification system, stressed the importance of symmetry in the classification
of knowledge. The importance of symmetry cannot be ignored. We see it in
the languages of science and most clearly in the symmetric relationship between
explanation and prediction. Throughout science and technology, the language
tools used to analyse worlds are the same ones used to synthesise them. In the
same vain, young students who analyse a text must perform a synthesis activity
to place what is learned into their existing knowledge base and/or create a new
text to answer the learning problem that spurred the analysis.
How can we do this? How would an ontology or language code (1) help the
teacher/learner communication process (sharing criterion), (2) foster the analysis
and synthesis of any domain of embodied knowledge (across domain criterion),
and (3) handle the expanding knowledge students will encounter during
schooling and beyond (reuse criterion)? The ontology should provide students
with a tool during individual or group learning sessions to both assimilate and
accommodate content in the context of the knowledge work. Basic
comprehension questionswho, what, why, when, where, and howdo not
give the student or teacher an organisational tool. The social construction of
knowledge requires analysis and synthesis processes that mirror each other,
that are complex enough to eventually help students handle complex text, yet
simple enough to be learned and used by young children, starting at about four
years of age.
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Knowledge and Society

Self Check Exercise

9)

What are the different approaches to acquire domain specialisation for

professionals?

10) Discuss the concept of ontology.

Note: i) Write your answers in the space given below.
ii) Check your answers with the answers given at the end of the Unit.
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16.9

SUMMARY

This Unit defines the concepts Professional and Knowledge Professional.

Explains that Dr. S.R. Ranganathans normative principles for library service
(the Five Laws) can be conveniently adapted to form guiding principles for
the Knowledge Profession in knowledge management and services. Mentions
the features of the emerging digital and knowledge-based environment and
factors, particularly applications of information and communications
technologies that influence knowledge access and delivery. Points out that
mobilisation of human knowledge resources (specialisation, expertise and
skills) is an important aspect of the activities of the knowledge professional.
Various aspects of knowledge management that a knowledge professional need
to be conversant with are indicated. Knowledge and skills required for designing
and providing knowledge-based products. The need for rethinking about
computer-mediated w is briefly discussed. Points out that different groups
associated with information and embodied knowledge handling claim for
inclusion in the knowledge professional category. Considers how a library
and information professional can transform himself/herself into a knowledge
professional. Presents Dr. Michael Medlands views on preparing knowledge
workers of the new millennium starting with very young school children.

16.10

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ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISES

1)

A profession is an occupation that is practiced for the benefit of the society.

It requires a long and intensive education and training, which is formal
and informal. It is in a branch of knowledge or field of specialisation.
Grocer, cobbler, and dyer are examples of a calling whereas manager,
shoe designer and textile designer are examples of professionals.

2)

The different types of knowledge professionals are:

Database designers, Content developers and organisers, Information/
Knowledge aggregators, Knowledge products distributors, Web page
designers, and Internet service providers, etc.

3)

The different Knowledge Management (KM) tools and products are:

Knowledge Profession

Search engines, Natural language processing software, Document

management systems, and Groupware products.
4)

The functions of a Knowledge Professional (KP) are:

a)

To design and develop systems and strategies for maintaining a flow

of knowledge produced within and outside the organisation

b)

To enable interaction among workers by organising seminars, group

discussions, video conferences, etc.

5)

Instilling knowledge in information products implies adding value to

products and services in libraries. It would help users to derive intelligence
from such products to assist in their management activities.

6)

Knowledge and skills needed for content organisation include:

a)

Web information architecture;

b)

Internet- based information services;

c)

Accessing applications;

d)

Issues in content hoisting;

e)

Content formats; and

f)

Tools for content creation and processing.

7)

The knowledge professionals should work in collaboration with other

professionals in information intensive and dynamical work settings to
tackle the various issues related to ICT being used in KM.

8)

Developing expertise in collaborative dimensions of KM would help KP

to obtain feedback of the use of existing information systems, provide
knowledge base to all categories of users, and assist in knowledge
discovery and innovations by applying techniques and technologies of
other specialisations.

9)

Different approaches for professionals to acquire domain specialisation

include:
a)

Producing literature guides and subject gateways;

b)

Producing special classifications and thesauri; doing research on

indexing and retrieving specialties;

c)

Conducting empirical user studies, bibliometric studies, historical

studies, document and genre studies, epistemological and critical
studies, terminological studies, discourse studies of structures and
institutions in scientific communication, and domain analysis, and
artificial intelligence.

10) Ontology refers to the use of a common language to talk about contents in
a domain. It helps to parse, represent, search, and expand the contents of
a knowledge base. It helps in sharing and use of knowledge thus, helping
in promoting it.

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Knowledge and Society

16.11 KEYWORDS
Profession

: An occupation, a calling, or career

requiring special education (e.g. in the
liberal arts or sciences). A body of people
in a learned occupation. [WordNet 2.0]

Calling

: The term Calling refers to an activity or

a set of interlinked activities for which the
performer enjoys the legal and moral right
to ask for payment, and if he/she asks for
it, he/she must be paid, and if he/she is not
paid, he/she has the right to seek redress
in a court law [Bhattacharyya, 2001].

Professional

: A professional person; a person engaged

in one of the learned professions.
A master, an authority qualified to teach
(e.g. a branch of knowledge, a field of
study, a subject, a discipline [WordNet 2.0]
A professional is a trained person, having
expert knowledge in a field on the basis of
which he/she can provide service to the
society [Mason, 1990]

16.12

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

[Note: Students should also use the documents cited in Units 14 and 15 of this
course]
Abell, Angela (2001). Competing with Knowledge: The Information
Professional in the Knowledge Management Age. London, UK.: Library
Association Publishing.
Bhattacharyya, G. (2001). Musings on curriculum design for library and
information science in the IT environment with special reference to content
organisation, p. 135-144. In: Content Organisation in the New Millennium.
Papers Contributed to the Seminar on Content Organisation in the New
Millennium, Bangalore, 2-4 June 2000.
Hjorland, Birger (2002). Domain Analysis in Information Science: Eleven
Approaches Traditional as well as Innovative. Journal of Documentation,
58(4); 422-462.
Devaraj, Rajashekar S. and Ramesh, L.S.R.C.V. (1999). Librarianship and the
Professional Model: A Sociological Tutorial and Critique. Library Science
with a Slant to Documentation and Information Studies, 38(3); 155-164.

438

Gopinath, M.A. (1998). Curriculum for Digital Information Systems: A

Learning Package for Library and Information Professionals. Library Science
with a Slant to Documentation and Information Studies. 37(2); 73-78.

Gopinath, M.A. (2002) Information Professionals, Knowledge and Science

Paradigm. SRELS Journal of Information Management, 39(1); 2002; 23-39.

Knowledge Profession

Haravu, L.J. (2002). Lectures on Knowledge Management: Paradigms,

Challenges and Opportunities. Bangalore: Sarada Ranganathan Endowment
for Library Science.
Haravu, L.J. and Neelameghan, A. (2003). Text Mining and Data Mining in
Knowledge Organisation and Discovery: The Making of Knowledge-based
Products. Cataloguing & Classification Quarterly, 37 (1/2); 173-186
Mason, Richard O/ (1990). What is an Information Professional ? Journal of
Education for Library and Information Science, 31(2); 122-130.
Soundara Rajan, V. (2000). Librarian in the Knowledge Era. SRELS Journal
of Information Management, 37(3); 157-164.
Srivathsan, K.R. (2004) Five Laws of Information Service and Architecting
Knowledge Infrastructure for Education and Development. (under publication)
WordNet 2.0. New Jersey: Princeton University
Sharma, Jaideep (2002). Professional Needs of the Workplace Vital
Component in Professional Curriculum. SRELS Journal of Information
Management. 39(2); 117-120
Sridhar, M.S. (1999). Skill Requirements of LIS Professionals in the New EWorld. Library Science with a Slant to Documentation and Information Studies,
38(3); 121-129.

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