Tools and Technologies for Knowledge Management
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Transcript of Tools and Technologies for Knowledge Management
Tools and Technologies for Knowledge Management
Al BergPractice Director/Collaborative ComputingAMC Computer CorporationNew York City, NY USA
Unstructured Knowledge
Much of the knowledge we deal with is unstructured
Computers are used to dealing with structured knowledge
New challenges = new tools
Structured vs. Unstructured
Structured - we know the format of the data and can pick out each piece easily
Unstructured - the data can be in any format and we cannot count on data to be in a particular format
Structured vs. Unstructured
Structured information
Accounting data Attendance records Chronologies Payroll records
Unstructured information
Conversations Meeting notes Training videos Procedures
Most Knowledge is Unstructured
Most companies’ knowledge breaks down as:
10 - 15 % structured
85 - 90 % unstructured
PC Week 12/7/98: “In Search of Knowledge”
Unstructured Knowledge = Challenges
Indexing - what information is important for searching?
Dealing with many knowledge types
Text Graphics Audio Video
Knowledge Repositories
Tools and technologies to collect and codify knowledge
…and make that knowledge accessible to workers
The Internet
The wealth of information on the Internet is a knowledge repository
US Patent Office(www.uspto.gov)
Inquisit(www.inquisit.com)
Electronic Mail
Electronic mail is a simple knowledge repository as well as a communication method
Archives messages and makes them searchable
Workflow Management
Building business processes into computer systems
Routing Review and
Comment Approvals
A more structured form of electronic mail with the “rules” of the organization built in
Leading Repository/Workflow Tools
The World Wide Web
Lotus Notes
Microsoft Exchange
Document Management Systems
Web Based Tools
The Global Internet
Corporate, Organizational and Governmental Intranets
Why the Web?
Ubiquitous client - everybody has a web browser on their computer
Agreed upon standards - for the most part
Extensibility - support for text, graphics, multimedia and other data
Why the Web?
Cost - many web tools (browsers, servers, etc.) can be obtained at low or no cost over the Internet
Platform independence - web based repositories can be accessed by different kinds of computers without reprogramming
Why the Web?
Modularity - Web based tools can serve as common front ends to other tools like:
Lotus Notes Microsoft Exchange Mainframe based data warehouses
Web Tools
Standards Based Web Servers
Microsoft Internet Information Server Lotus Domino Apache Netscape NCSA
Document Management
“Filing cabinet on steroids”
PC-DOCS Documentum Lotus Domino.Doc
A quick demo...
Content Management
Not all documents are on paper - they may be
Graphics Video clips Audio Presentations
Content management is the next step from document management - storage and retrieval of different types of information
Imaging Tools
Capture pictures, drawings, documents
Scanners Digital cameras Digital notepads
and “PDAs”
Optical Character Recognition
OCR - Turning images of documents (which can’t be edited or searched) into text (which can)
Players: Xerox, Caere
Speech Recognition
Direct dictation into a computer or into a digital recorder which is then downloaded into a computer
Voice to text
Speech to Text Limitations
Requires the computer to be “trained” for one person
Cannot differentiate between multiple speakers (meetings)
Accuracy varies
Speech Recognition
The technology is improving - look for significant changes in 1999
Major players: Dragon Systems, IBM, Lernout & Hauspie
Knowledgebases
Using stored knowledge to answer questions
Problem solving Customer service Call centers Natural language
Real Time Conferencing
Awareness of colleagues on line & their availability
Conversation: one to one and multi person chat
Shared documents and “objects”
Document Based Awareness
Smart documents that “know” when their authors, people mentioned in them, experts, or interested parties are on line and provide links to those people
Lotus SameTime is the pioneer in this area
Video Storage/Retrieval
Today, much information is stored within video clips - how to retrieve it?
Digitize and analyze it!
Excalibur Technologies Screening Roomwww.excalib.com
Screening Room
Screening Room
Captures and analyzes video, finding:
scene changes cuts & fades pans, tilts and
zooms closed caption text
Allows users to:
Browse ‘thumbnail’ images of important scenes
Search for text in closed captioning
Make digital copies of important sections
Emerging Technologies
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Neural Networks
XML
Knowledge representation and visualization (Themescape’s Cartia)
Resources on the Web
Association for Information & Image Management
www.aiim.org
Active in promoting KM standards
Knowledge Management World Magazine
www.kmworld.com
News on the industry, case studies, buyers guides
Resources on the Web
The Big Vendors
www.ibm.com
www.lotus.com
www.microsoft.com
www.netscape.com
www.documentum.com
Use the search engines for more information…
www.hotbot.com www.yahoo.com www.infoseek.com
Resources on the Web
TechInfoCenterSponsored by KM World Magazine and Vendors
http://www.techinfocenter.com
Vendor supplied white papers on KM technologies
Thank You!
Al BergPractice Director/Collaborative Computing
AMC Computer Corporation129 West 27th StreetNew York City, NY 10001
Telephone +1-212-620-0700, extension 1243Facsimile +1-212-656-1785Web www.amccorp.comEmail [email protected]