Individuals need to survive and grow in changing and sometimes turbulent organizational environments, while organizations and societies want individuals to have the knowledge, skills and abilities that will enable them to prosper and thrive. Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is a means of coping with complex environmental changes and developments: it is a form of sophisticated career and life management. Personal Knowledge Management is an evolving concept that focuses on the importance of individual growth and learning as much as on the technology and management processes traditionally associated with organizational knowledge management. This book looks at the emergence of PKM from a multi-disciplinary perspective, and its contributors reflect the diverse fields of study that touch upon it. Relatively little research or major conceptual development has so far been focused on PKM, but already significant questions are being asked, such as 'is there an inherent conflict between personal and organizational knowledge management and how best do we harmonize individual and organizational goals?' This book will inform, stimulate and challenge every reader. By delving both deeply and broadly into its subject, the distinguished authors help all those concerned with 'knowledge work' and 'knowledge workers' to see how PKM supports and affects individuals, organizations and society as a whole; to better understand the concepts involved and to benefit from relevant research in this important area.

If you want to provide an information service that truly fulfils your users' needs, this book is essential reading. Analysing and assessing the information needs of clients is key to the provision of effective service and appropriate collections in both face-to-face and virtual library services. The importance of information needs analysis is widely recognized by information professionals, but currently there is little substantive, detailed work in the professional literature devoted to this important topic. This new book is designed to fill that gap, by supporting practitioners in developing an information needs analysis strategy, and offering the necessary professional skills and techniques to do so. It will offer guidance to team leaders and senior managers in all areas of library work, especially those involved in collection management, service provision and web development, and is equally applicable to the needs of academic, public, government, commercial and other more specialized library and information services. The text adopts a hands-on, jargon-free approach, and includes relevant examples, case studies, reader activities and sources of further reading. Key areas covered include: what is information needs analysis? how is needs analysis conducted? what are the varieties of needs analysis? how are analyses evaluated and reported? Readership: The book will be essential reading for library and information practitioners, team leaders and senior managers. It will also be a core text on course reading lists in departments of library and information studies.

Join our mailing list Qualitative Research for the Information Professional, 2nd edition A practical handbook G. E. Gorman and Peter Clayton About the book Table of contents Reviews About the author This established text is the only introduction to qualitative research methodologies in the field of library and information management. Its extensive coverage encompasses all aspects of qualitative research work from conception to completion, and all types of study in a variety of settings from multi-site projects to data organization. The book features many case studies and examples, and offers a comprehensive manual of practice designed for LIS professionals. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and includes three new chapters. It has been updated to take account of the substantial growth in the amount and quality of web-based information relevant to qualitative research methods and practice, and the many developments in software applications and resources. The authors have identified a clear need for a new chapter on the evaluation of existing research, as a gateway into new research for information professionals. The final chapter, 'Human Resources In Knowledge Management', takes the form of a model case study, and is an 'ideal' qualitative investigation in an information setting. It exemplifies many of the approaches to qualitative research discussed in earlier chapters. Readership : Directed primarily at the beginner researcher, this book also offers a practical refresher in this important area for the more experienced researcher. It is a useful tool for all practitioners and researchers in information organizations, whether libraries, archives, knowledge management centres, record management centres, or any other type of information service provider.1. The nature of qualitative research 2. Evaluating qualitative research 3. Qualitative research design in information organizations 4. Case studies in information organizations 5. Laying the foundations for fieldwork 6. Beginning fieldwork 7. Observation 8. Interviewing 9. Group discussion techniques 10. Historical investigation - Sydney J. Shep 11. Recording fieldwork data 12. Analysing qualitative data from information organizations 13. Writing qualitative research reports 14. Human resources in knowledge management: a case study 15. Select bibliography - Adela Clayton

The International Yearbook of Library and Information Management is a thematic, refereed annual publication in the field of library science and information management worldwide. Each volume contains substantive chapters covering current issues, emerging debates and trends, and models of best practice and likely future developments, contributed by an internationally respected panel of researchers, practitioners and academics. The theme for Volume 5, 'scholarly publishing in an electronic era', has been chosen in view of significant recent changes in the publishing world and the impacts that these changes are having on the management of information provision and on access to information in specific communities. The first part of the book offers an overview of current trends in scholarly publishing, and the book is divided into a further six parts each covering an area of core interest: institutional perspectives on scholarly publishing; open access initiatives technical issues in scholarly publishing; use of scholarly publications; economics and logistics of scholarly publishing; international issues. Readership: The International Yearbook is essential reading for information professionals wishing to keep up-to-date with recent developments in library science and information management on a global basis.