Think Clearly: The Lucidea Blog

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Presto and DB/TextWorks Support Humanitarian Aid Delivered by Surgeons Worldwide

Posted by Lucidea on 6/8/2017

American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) volunteer surgeons operate on thousands of patients worldwide, and they and their teams use Inmagic Presto and DB/TextWorks in very innovative ways to document patient data and outcomes. Read on to learn more about the FACE TO FACE database.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Success Story, Knowledge Management Systems

Effective Knowledge Managers—Do You Recognize These Traits?

Posted by Stan Garfield on 5/30/2017

During my career as a KM practitioner, I developed a profile of the most effective knowledge managers. It’s included in my upcoming book on promoting knowledge management initiatives within the corporate world.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Information Management, Management, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Is your ILS or KM Platform Multi-Faceted?

Posted by Phil Green on 5/25/2017

I was speaking with a client about faceted search. (For more information on that subject see my blog post “A Firm Foundation for Faceted Search”). We discussed the need for well-organized and well-structured data to support useful faceted searching. The client challenged that need, and stated she had read and been told that some forms of guided navigation require no data preparation—and will work with completely unstructured data. In this post I’ll compare and contrast two approaches to searching.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Develop a Tailored KM Strategy with Proven Knowledge Management Components

Posted by Stan Garfield on 5/18/2017

In my upcoming book on promoting knowledge management initiatives within the corporate world, I share a number of useful KM components that can be mixed and matched to suit an organization’s specific needs. Please read on for a sneak preview.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems, Strategy

Part Three: Special Libraries’ Evolving Role—Continued Success Requires a Business Strategy

Posted by Phil Green on 5/16/2017

As discussed in my last post, special libraries now exist in a highly competitive information marketplace, where business users of content have lots of options. Michael Porter—in his seminal book Competitive Strategy—stated that in a competitive marketplace there are three strategies that make sense: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. What does this imply for special library strategies?

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, SydneyEnterprise, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

How to be a Great KM Communicator

Posted by Stan Garfield on 5/12/2017

In my upcoming book on promoting knowledge management initiatives within the corporate world, I include a chapter on communication. Timely communication is critical to successfully introducing a new KM initiative and keeping the organization informed of implementation progress.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Professional Development, Knowledge Management Systems

Part Two: Special Libraries’ Evolving Role—Continued Success Requires a Business Strategy

Posted by Phil Green on 5/10/2017

In my last post, I wrote about how I learned a difficult lesson: hard work and quality output must be in service of a solid business strategy if individuals, roles and departments are to thrive. As you know, keeping your special library vibrant and sustainable requires adaptation and lots of hard work. In addition, are you thinking strategically about how to make your library the best that it can be? Please read on for some ideas.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, SydneyEnterprise, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Part One: Special Libraries’ Evolving Role—Continued Success Requires a Business Strategy

Posted by Phil Green on 5/5/2017

My first job was at Data Resources Inc. (DRI) working as a consultant with a large Fortune 25 conglomerate. My role was to provide industry information and sales forecasting via timesharing to its various business units by building a model that the customer would run (ideally) for years to come. Whenever the customer ran the model, DRI generated revenue. Sounds great, right? But I learned a difficult lesson about how things really work.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, SydneyEnterprise, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Proven Knowledge Management Methodologies—Arrows in the KM Quiver

Posted by Lucidea on 5/3/2017

In his upcoming book on promoting KM initiatives within the corporate world, author and KM expert Stan Garfield shares a number of useful KM methodologies that enable colleagues to take advantage of proven practices and see the value of knowledge management to the organization. Read on for a sneak preview.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems

10 Questions Your KM System Should Help Answer

Posted by Lucidea on 4/19/2017

If you are planning to buy a KM system, or want to migrate/upgrade, you need to think about your organization’s needs both strategically and tactically in order to select the right platform. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself that will help.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems

When is a KM Tool not a Tool?

Posted by Sarah Nichols on 4/5/2017

In Neil Olonoff’s excellent post “Knowledge Management Tools That Aren’t Tools,” he takes us back to the basic purpose and definition of a tool: something that is supposed to make work easier. It’s easy to agree with that, yet there are so many KM “tools” that only complicate matters, and make work harder. And there in a nutshell is the biggest barrier to user adoption.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems

What Does Successful Knowledge Management Look Like? 11 Key Attributes

Posted by Lucidea on 3/29/2017

In his upcoming book on proven practices for promoting KM initiatives within the corporate world, author and KM expert Stan Garfield shares 11 attributes of a successful knowledge ecosystem drawn from one of his clients, a large multinational technology company.

Although these attributes are drawn from a technology company, they are relevant to organizations of all types and sizes. This is what success looks like.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems

Presto Connects Transportation Scientists and the Public with Lifesaving Research

Posted by Lucidea on 3/22/2017

The Center for Transportation Research (CTR) is a multidisciplinary and multimodal research institute at the University of Texas at Austin. It is recognized as one of the leading university-based transportation research centers in the world, working to promote cutting-edge developments in transportation science and technology that ultimately save lives. It’s imperative that this research be broadly shared.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems

Do You Deliver Content via Your Organization’s Website? Upward Mobility is Key!

Posted by Ron Aspe, CEO on 3/17/2017

As part of its new mobile-first strategy, Google will give preferential search rankings to mobile-friendly sites (sites optimized for mobile devices). This change will have a significant impact on search results. Librarians and knowledge managers who make content available to the public, external researchers, funders, et al., through an organizational website must take this into consideration.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Solo Librarianship, SydneyEnterprise, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems, GeniePlus

Knowledge Management—as Easy as Falling off a Bike?

Posted by Phil Green on 3/8/2017

How many collaborators does it take to change a light bulb?

I was just visiting with a client and we had a long discussion about the benefits of collaboration in KM.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems

The Librarian’s Secret Weapon

Posted by Sarah Nichols on 2/8/2017

I’m reading a wonderful book at the moment, called “The Little Paris Bookshop,” by Nina George. In it, one of the characters says, “The others all left with the riddle unsolved; none of them asked the right questions. Asking questions is an art.” In my experience, that is very true …and the ability to practice that art in support of a patron’s or user’s needs is a librarian’s secret weapon.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Management, SydneyEnterprise, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Serendipity—Enabling “Happy Accidents” is both Art and Science

Posted by Lucidea on 2/3/2017

As the writer Horace Walpole observed of the Three Princes of Serendip, “they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of…” and these discoveries actually saved their lives. Users of your ILS/KM solution may find it to be a lifesaver—if it enables true discovery; that is, if it enables finding, not just searching.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, SydneyEnterprise, Inmagic Presto, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

The American Physical Therapy Association—Small Library; Big Impact; Exciting Plans

Posted by Lucidea on 1/4/2017

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is a national professional organization with a $45.5 million budget representing more than 95,000 members. Its goal is to foster advancements in physical therapy practice, research, and education. APTA is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with more than 180 employees serving APTA members, and has a small library staff that delivers large library results, with Inmagic Presto.

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Topics: Knowledge Management, Inmagic Presto, Success Story, Knowledge Management Systems