Hildreth, P.J. and C. Kimble. 2002. The duality of knowledge. Information Research. 8(1) paper no. 142.Knowledge Management (KM) is a field that has attracted much attention both in academic and practitioner circles. Most KM projects appear to be primarily concerned with knowledge that can be quantified and can be captured, codified and stored - an approach more deserving of the label Information Management.Recently there has been recognition that some knowledge cannot be quantified and cannot be captured, codified or stored. However, the predominant approach to the management of this knowledge remains to try to convert it to a form that can be handled using the 'traditional' approach.In this paper, we argue that this approach is flawed and some knowledge simply cannot be captured. A method is needed which recognises that knowledge resides in people: not in machines or documents. We will argue that KM is essentially about people and the earlier technology driven approaches, which failed to consider this, were bound to be limited in their success. One possible way forward is offered by Communities of Practice, which provide an environment for people to develop knowledge through interaction with others in an environment where knowledge is created nurtured and sustained.

TakingITGlobal.org is a global online community, providing youth with inspiration to make a difference, a source of information on issues, opportunities to take action, and a bridge to get involved locally, nationally and globally. Membership is free of charge and allows you to interact with various aspects of the website, to contribute ideas, experiences, and actions.TakingITGlobal (TIG) is an international organization - led by youth and enabled by technology. TIG connects youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved, and take action to improve their local and global communities. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with a growing worldwide presence, the organization's flagship program is TakingITGlobal.org, the most popular online community for young people interested in connecting across cultures and making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. TIG also works with global partners – from UN agencies, to major companies, and especially youth organizations – in order to build the capacity of youth for development, support youth artistic and media expression, make education more engaging, and involve young people in global decision-making.

McDermott, R. 1999. Nurturing Three Dimensional Communities of Practice. Knowledge Mangement Review.There are many different kinds of communities of practice. Some develop "official" best practices, some create guidelines, some have large knowledge repositories, others simple meet to discuss common problems and solutions. Communities also connect in many different ways. Some meet face to face, others have conferences; others share ideas through a website. To decide what kind of community and what kind of connection is best for your organization you need to understand three dimensions: what kind of knowledge people need to share; how tightly bonded the community is; and how closely new knowledge needs to be linked with people’s everyday work.

Allee, V. 2000. Knowledge Networks and Communities of Practice. OD Practitioner. Vol. 32(4).A knowledge strategy serves as a unifying frame for building organizational capability across multiple arenas. A broad approach to "managing for knowledge" means creating a thriving work and learning environment that fosters the continuous creation, aggregation, use and re-use of both organizational and personal knowledge. For example, knowledge-focused strategic domains include:Sharing knowledge and best practicesInstilling responsibility for sharing knowledgeCapturing and reusing past experiencesEmbedding knowledge in product, services and processesProducing knowledge as a productDriving knowledge generation for innovationMapping networks of expertsBuilding and mining customer knowledge basesUnderstanding and measuring the value of knowledgeLeveraging intellectual assets.

ItrainOnline is a joint initiative of six organizations with exceptional expertise in computer and Internet training in the South. ItrainOnline responds to the need for a single source on the web containing a selection of the best and most relevant computer and Internet training resources for development and social change.

Information Research, an electronic journal. Special issue on Knowledge Management - the Emperor's new clothes?

The 15 CGIAR Centers and their many national partners are together creating a wealth of knowledge that can help rural communities in developing countries build sustainable livelihoods. While all players are doing much to ensure this knowledge is widely shared, formidable obstacles to its uptake and use, and, ultimately, the impact of CGIAR agricultural research, remain. One of the missing elements, the appropriate and effective sharing of knowledge, both within Centers and between them and their partners, has reduced the effectiveness of CGIAR research and development (R&D) efforts.

Foundations of Communities of Practice: Communities of practice have become a cornerstone of the knowledge strategy of leading organizations. Yet understanding how these largely informal, voluntary, and self-organizing communities actually work still presents a challenge for most organizations. Without an understanding of their dynamics and composition, community initiatives can be wasteful, ineffective or even harmful. In this unique on-line workshop participants learn what communities of practice are, why they are fundamental to knowledge-based organizations, how to develop, nurture, and leverage them, and how to build a knowledge strategy around them.

The 15 CGIAR Centers and their many national partners are together creating a wealth of knowledge that can help rural communities in developing countries build sustainable livelihoods. While all players are doing much to ensure this knowledge is widely shared, formidable obstacles to its uptake and use, and, ultimately, the impact of CGIAR agricultural research, remain. One of the missing elements, the appropriate and effective sharing of knowledge, both within Centers and between them and their partners, has reduced the effectiveness of CGIAR Gongla, P. and C. R. Rizzuto. 2001. Evolving communities of practice: IBM Global Services experience. IBM Systems Journal Vol 40(4).In 1995, IBM Global Services began implementing a business model that included support for the growth and development of communities of practice focused on the competencies of the organization. This paper describes our experience working with these communities over a five-year period, concentrating specifically on how the communities evolved. We present an evolution model based on observing over 60 communities, and we discuss the evolution in terms of people and organization behavior, supporting processes, and enabling technology factors. Also described are specific scenarios of communities within IBM Global Services at various stages of evolution. esearch and development (R&D) efforts.