KMbeing

Knowledge Mobilization (KMb): Multiple Contributions & Multi-Production Of New Knowledge

Tag Archives: data

Individual Drops Of Knowledge

Leave a Comment Posted by on May 27, 2011

The tiny drops of individual experiences helps to create knowledge.

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Are You Mobilizing Knowledge Or Data/Information Noise?

3 Comments Posted by on May 20, 2011

Remember that just because we can mobilize information on the Internet to someone halfway around the world doesn’t mean we are mobilizing knowledge or have wisdom.  Knowledge, information and wisdom are very different things.

Information is not always better.  Having information doesn’t make us better people.  Having a whole world of information at our fingertips on the Internet doesn’t make us any wiser – it just means that we have access to more information than people used to have in the past. The Internet has made mobilizing information faster, but that doesn’t mean we are mobilizing knowledge.

Many of us mistake this “data/information noise” as knowledge – or even wisdom.  To have knowledge, or to be wise, we have to have understanding and connect that individual understanding beyond ourselves to our humanity.  If we’re going to gain or give knowledge (and be wise) we can’t just simply share facts and figures–we have to share our deeper experiences and actions, and receive them from others as well.  We must reach a deeper understanding of things and actions, and then give and take that understanding for the purpose of improving – not only ourselves – but our humanity.

Knowledge isn’t about using big words – knowledge can be brilliant in its simplicity.  Knowledge  isn’t having the answer for everything – it’s about being open to others, to the differences of others, and allowing them to contribute their knowledge to solve our world’s problems.

These days many think they have knowledge because they have easy access to an abundance of  information, but quantity doesn’t mean quality – and information doesn’t mean knowledge.  When we mobilize knowledge we can reach so much farther through the Internet and social media – but unless we connect our individual knowledge to our collective knowledge for progressive knowledge, we are only contributing to the “data/information noise”.

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Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom And The Difference Between Information Exchange & Knowledge Mobilization

2 Comments Posted by on January 17, 2011

Information Exchange is a term that is mistakenly applied to Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) – particularly in social media. Unfortunately, despite the developing use of the term Knowledge Mobilization, the KMb concept is misunderstood and misapplied, as are the terms Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom.


A helpful web posting on the visualization-blog Information Is Beautiful presented a “think-piece” by David McCandless titled Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom? McCandless created an impressive visual pyramid to help distinguish each category as a Hierarchy Of Visual Understanding. Although McCandless points out it’s by no means original thought, his display provides a clear categorization of each concept.

On Twitter, I recently posted a link to this visual pyramid and a popular quote from American astronomer Cliff Stoll and author Gary Schubert. Both the link and quote have relevance to understanding the difference between Information Exchange and Knowledge Mobilization.

The quote from Cliff Stoll and Gary Schubert:

Data is not information,
Information is not knowledge,
Knowledge is not understanding,
Understanding is not wisdom.

In short – just because you have some “facts” and share them doesn’t mean you’re informed, or the “facts” are useful. Nevertheless, the concepts are connected, and one needs to “know” how.

Let’s take this very example to demonstrate: I spent upwards of almost 30 minutes searching the web (from Google to Wikipedia) to find out who Gary Schubert – and which Gary Schubert – is connected to Cliff Stoll in this quote. This quote is extremely popular (3620 results on a Google Search), but all of the many webpages I searched still couldn’t tell me who Gary Schubert is and why he is connected to Cliff Stoll and this particular quote. All of the many websites and blogs that used this quote only attributed it to these two individuals by name only, and no other information. At least Wikipedia listed Cliff Stoll and it was there that I found out who he is and why he is connected to the quote – but no mention of Gary Schubert. Apart from emailing Cliff Stoll directly to find out, Gary Schubert is still a mystery to me.

Now back to McCandless’ visual pyramid to further demonstrate.

Data: The discrete elements like names, words, and numbers that categorise, calculate or quantify – like Gary Schubert’s name and the words of the quote. I have the data but I still don’t have the information about who Gary Schubert is.

Information: The linked elements like concepts, ideas, and questions that contextualize, compare, connect, filter or frame – like connecting Gary Schubert’s name to the quote and asking the question “who is Gary Schubert?” and “which Gary Schubert?” (There are 19 profiles of Gary Schubert on LinkdIn). Simply linking names with a quote and not knowing who exactly these people are is not knowledge, it’s just information.

Knowledge: The organized information into chapters, conceptual frameworks or facts – like finding out who Cliff Stoll is on Wikipedia and knowing that he is an astronomer, author and public speaker who is rightly attributed to the quote. I have knowledge about Cliff Stoll and how to connect him to the quote, but still no knowledge of the particular Gary Schubert, his connection to Cliff Stoll or the quote.

Wisdom: Applying knowledge into books, systems, beliefs, traditions, philosophies, principles and truths – like my personal belief system to stop long searches for information (in this case on Gary Schubert) by applying the knowledge that when writing a blog and using a quote it’s really not that important to provide all of the details beyond a person’s name AND that there is a likely chance that someone reading my blog may provide me with the exact information about Gary Schubert anyway! I was just curious to find out more about who these guys are that are always being quoted by name only.

So, when I use my blog to put out the question “Who is Gary Schubert and why is he connected to Cliff Stoll and this quote?” and one of my blog readers or someone else comments on this blog post and provides me with the answer- that it is Information Exchange.

When I take the data I have (the name Gary Schubert) and connect it with the information I receive about who Gary Schubert is – it becomes knowledge. When I turn that knowledge into action by posting on Wikipedia, my blog (or some other form of social communication) to make it easier for someone else to have access or contribute to this knowledge – that’s Knowledge Mobilization at its most basic level.

When research and knowledge are used to inform policy makers to make things easier for society – that’s KMb at a more complex level.  KMb is turning knowledge into action for greater social benefit. KMb encompasses a variety of knowledge transfer and exchange methods including producer-push, user-pull, knowledge exchange and co-production.

Knowledge Mobilization (like everything) starts with data, includes information that creates knowledge and becomes wisdom when used effectively to benefit society.  Ultimately, wisdom is applying knowledge for the long term benefits of life.

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Knowledge Mobilization (KMb): Inclusive Knowledge Bridging the Types, Uses, and Places of Knowledge

4 Comments Posted by on November 26, 2010

Reviewing some of my Delicious bookmarks, I re-read Waiting for the Social Semantic Web. What struck me again is a statement about the distinction between Web 2.0 (also known as the contemporary web) and Web 3.0 – the so-called semantic web. As we gather information by bookmarking and tagging we are linking various topics with various contexts – creating links to assist us in easier tracking and referral. But we are also contributing to the future of intelligent machines. The great divide between humans and thinking machines appears to be getting smaller with every tag that links information in a more digital way. Supposedly, the Semantic Web will make information stored on the Internet even more readily accessible not only to humans but to intelligent machines in a more meaningful way.

But how do we define intelligence and what is meant by meaningful? Meaningful is a slippery word that should not be confused with meaning.

Meaning has a definitional element, a descriptor for an object. Meaningful has a subjective element that is personalized with each individual. As we all know, what is meaningful to one person may not be meaningful to another. So can intelligent machines have meaningful knowledge?

Before answering that,  it’s necessary to first understand what is meant by knowledge. There are many forms of knowledge: academic, expertise or skill, theoretical or practical, awareness or basic understanding. Further types of knowledge include communicating (style) knowledge, situated knowledge, partial knowledge, scientific knowledge and symbolic knowledge. Yet, even the very definition of knowledge continues to be debated.

There are also two uses of knowledge: instrumental (the practical application of knowledge as a means or agency), and conceptual (the thoughtful, reflective process). How knowledge is used is also dependent upon context.

Is knowledge strictly something academic (objective) and found in the ivory towers of university or formal institutions of the world, or is knowledge something that every person (subjective) in the community has to share? This is at the heart of Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) where definitional knowledge is now being enmeshed with meaningful knowledge. Knowledge Mobilization is now connecting definitial knowledge with meaningful knowledge by connecting research and researchers with community organizations and individuals – listening to their voices while also providing information with a more social, collaborative approach to knowledge.

Now back to the semantic machines…

Like those intelligent machines, KMb is creating links to bridge the great, historical divides between types of knowledge, the use of knowledge, and the places of knowledge – in order to contribute to the greater benefit of society.

While the Semantic Web is advancing slowly – also being formed based on the linking of all types, uses, and places of knowledge - these three elements of knowledge are already being combined in Knowledge Mobilization. It’s through KMb that meaningful knowledge is being created by including, listening to, learning from, and linking all aspects of knowledge.

Intelligent machines may not actually be capable of creating meaningful knowledge, but using social media and the Internet for Knowledge Mobilization is a key way of contributing meaningful knowledge to the machines – and more importantly to the greater benefit of humans in society.

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Knowledge Mobilization, Universities and The Knowledge Revolution

2 Comments Posted by on October 14, 2010

Walter Stewart, who considers himself a “client-centered” consultant “for a knowlede-based economy” was a keynote speaker at the annual Canadian Higher Education Information Technology Conference (CANHEIT) held this past summer at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.  Several months have past since his presentation, but his challenge to universities – to IT administrators, staff and academic institutions as a whole (as well as the broader challenge to society) – still remains an extremely relevant call. I only recently received a forwarded copy of his presentation, but feel his views continue to be worth hearing.

Stewart talked about the current knowledge paradigm shift that I referred to in my last blog.  He pointed out that universities (and society in general) are experiencing a knowledge revolution – a revolution in ways of knowing – unprecendented in the past thousand years. According to Stewart it is part of a “process that is changing the very ways human beings know.” He suggests that those working in universities need to examine their information infrastructures and require “a well-developed sense of context” to keep up to the emergence of our new digital world, the “primacy of data” and the evolving knowledge economy (especially in emerging markets like China and India).

Stewart suggests the current role of the university is changing with the knowledge-based economy as they move from serving a niche elite market of scholars and researchers to serving a broader number of learners and knowledge mobilizers. I was very interested in Stewart’s approach in admonishing universities to evolve, and the implications of his message for all of society.

In previous posts of my blog, I have pointed out how researchers (academic/institutional) and research-users are working more collaboratively through knowledge mobilization as part of a greater free flow of data that is contributing to the greater benefit of society. As a community-based digital researcher working within (but not officially affiliated with) a university, it’s my intention to show the greater context that Stewart is talking about that is the reason for knowledge mobilization.

I am what Angie Hart (no, not the Australian pop singer Angie Hart!) would call “a boundary spanner” helping to bring university and community together.  I am attempting to bring greater awareness of how knowledge mobilization at the community level can inform researchers at the university level and vice versa. It’s good to see someone like Walter Stewart making that message known to university administrators directly. Stewart’s message is a knowledge mobilization message relevant to all of us – now living in a knowledge-driven digital age.

For the video of Walter Stewart’s keynote address link here (AND SCROLL DOWN TO… Keynote 6: The Role of Higher Educational Institutions in Infrastructure, Walter Stewart when you get to the link).
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8:45 – 9:45

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The Knowledge Mobilization Paradigm Shift

1 Comment Posted by on October 7, 2010

Using social media for knowledge mobilization is the most important thing we can do as part of the newly-evolving paradigm shift from an information society to a knowledge society. We are seeing a transition from an economy based on material goods and information to one based on knowledge goods and mobilization using social media as an essential tool.

In order to understand this current paradigm shift, we must first recall previous societal revolutions from Agricultural to Industrial to Scientific – with the later leading to our more recent Information society and the subsequent greater manufacturing of material goods.

We must then understand the distinction of data, information, knowledge and knowledge mobilization. Of primary importance in the scientific revolution (and of course still today), data comes through research and collection. Information is how the data is organized. Knowledge is then built upon information, and Knowledge Mobilization is knowing what to do with that knowledge – how to synthesize the knowledge of both researchers and communities (academics and non-academics) in order to make it useful to society. Knowledge mobilization is the creation of multi-dimensional knowledge links or activities for the benefit of society.

At a recent business dinner I was asked by an executive member of an Ottawa based research organization how to best begin incorporating a knowledge mobilization strategy for what appears to be a research organization of  “old, white-collar dinosaurs” heading into irrelevance.

I suggested three key integrated steps to help them breath new life into their agency:

1) Face-To-Face Interaction: Getting their executive group to meet with other advisors from a variety of research, community and social media sectors – either in workshops, presentations or casual cocktail sessions – to generate conversation and ideas for funding and future projects.

2) Social Media Strategy: Developing a social media strategy that includes at least one designated social media staff member to help further promote the agencies work and firmly link and entrench the agency in the new paradigm shift by a successful use of social media tools like Twitter or Blogs.

3) Knowledge Mobilization (KMb): Constantly promoting and presenting the agency’s own knowledge while being informed by Face-To-Face Interaction and a Social Media Strategy about how to synthesize external knowledge with their own – through Knowledge Mobilization – for better use to society, and not just within their own specialization.

Researchers, government and community agencies are developing deeper relationships than ever before through knowledge mobilization.  Social media tools for knowledge mobilization are helping these agencies achieve meaningful results beyond just good information sharing.

The knowledge society is a new phase of society using social media sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook that make knowledge mobilization faster, efficient and more practical. But some researchers, scholarly associations, federations and government agencies are still not aware of the major importance and role that social media is playing in this emerging society today.

Those recognizing the major significance of using social media beyond casual conversations and family/friends contact (see previous blog) will help keep the older forms and structures of academic, government and community agencies from becoming irrelevant and dying out. Those who don’t…well?

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