The KM Thesaurus
Introduction
Since the time of Socrates, philosophers have been arguing over the nature of knowledge. In the 19th century, a branch of philosophy called "epistemology" was created to study the theory of knowledge. Through epistemological study several types of knowledge were identified. For the purposes of knowledge management (KM) the type of critical importance is the recognition of correct information. "Knowledge in the information sense is…the most important kind of human knowledge. It is essential to theoretical and practical reasoning that pervades all human endeavors" (Mattey, 2000). However, knowledge is distinct from information. Knowledge is about beliefs, commitment, action and meaning. Knowledge is context specific and relational. Information is a necessary material for constructing knowledge (Takeuchi and Nonaka, 2000, p. 141).
In addition to philosophy, knowledge management draws from the disciplines of computer science, library and information science, business management and artificial intelligence. In turn these disciplines draw on others. For example, Management draws from psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, and education. Given the various disciplines represented and the lack of consensus on the nature of knowledge it is not surprising that there is no single, universal definition of knowledge management. Another result is the lack of a common vocabulary when discussing knowledge management. When searching for information this is a hindrance, which is why a thesaurus is such a helpful tool.
The KM Thesaurus is not intended to be a complete list of knowledge management terms for all disciplines. Instead, the specific domain of the thesaurus is KM concepts related to the for-profit business world. In the context of the business world, KM can best be viewed as "the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets" (Santosus & Surmacz, 2001). These assets include, but are not limited to, database, documents, policies, procedures, patents, trademarks, marketing research and customer lists. It also includes the unarticulated expertise and experience of individual workers. The thesaurus includes terms representing key KM concepts that may be unfamiliar to searchers outside the business world.