June 2009

Knowledge Management: More Than the Sum of Its Parts

The concept of knowledge management is simple. It's a way to make information accessible and active. Where KM becomes tricky is in the details.

Neophytes might think that KM is all about data storage and retrieval. That's the static, dead-end version of KM. It's true that data must be stored so that they can be retrieved, but if KM is not an active, growing bundle of synergy, then it fails in its primary function.

At ILTA, we're fortunate to have experts in the KM who know now to take the insights and experiences of one person and translate those data so that they are universally findable and understandable.

Many thanks to Catherine Monte of Fox Rothschild LLP, Vice President of ILTA's Knowledge Management Peer Group, and her steering committee, especially Chris Boyd of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC, for leading the effort in the production of this publication. These writers have come together to create a white paper that helps us understand that information is greater than the sum of its parts.