Friends: Do we really value information seeking skills? Do our organizations - academic, corporate, government, non-governmental - really encourage people to develop skills for searching and sharing information? Do we recognise gatekeepers and information evangelists? Here is something an outstanding development information specialist has said in another list. Read and I am sure he will set you thinking. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] -------- Here is a URL for a paper I wrote on "The Practical Reality of Knowledge Management within Development Initiatives" - http://www.telecommons.com/reports.cfm?itemid=219 - click on the Microsoft Word icon to download the paper. The paper touches on some of the organizational requirements necessary for staff - such as extension workers - to feel comfortable seeking, sharing and using information/knowledge. The simple task of searching the Internet for information requires some skill, but more importantly, staff require an organizational mandate and clear support from management so that they can spend time accessing information, and have management encouragement to use the tools they need to do so. If an extension worker wants to spend two hours at a local cybercafe to search for information on the carabao industry, for example, do their managers actively encourage them to do so? Do their job descriptions include this task? Has the organization developed simple procedures - staff meetings, lunch seminars, internal and external newsletters, etc. - to help staff share what they have learned? Is there a performance appraisal procedure that acknowledges and rewards time spent searching for and sharing information? Are their extension outreach mechanisms that allow extension workers to help farmers make use of what the extension worker has learned? Does the organization spend time developing staff skills to insure that information it produces is clear, valuable to audiences, and of high quality? Internal organizational structures and procedures are critically important. I find, however, that extension and research organizations do not often spend a great deal of time planning how to integrate knowledge management into day to day work so that concrete improvements in agricultural systems can be realized. Organizations that are serious about knowledge management, involve staff members and managers in participatory planning exercises to design the processes, policies and procedures to make it work. And they set measurable goals and objectives to monitor and improve processes, policies and procedures as they move along. Good, participatory planning leads can address some of the questions Ajit asks: - identification of skills that need improvement, and ways to improve those skills - identification of institutional and infrastructural constraints, and ways to transcend those constraints, remove them, or create new incentives - identification of possible local, regional, national and international communities of practice that managers and staff wish to associate with for knowledge sharing - and practical ways to take advantage of those communities of practice Finally, staff incentives are critically important - perhaps the most important component of knowledge management. People tend to work on tasks that are rewarding - personally, organizationally, financially, etc. This is also true for senior managers who seek to implement knowledge management activities - they require high level organizational mandates and incentives tied to knowledge management performance outcomes for the staff they supervise. All the best, Don Richardson Director TeleCommons Development Group ESG International Guelph, Ontario, Canada Email: don@telecommons.com