Managing Knowledge Networks

J. David Johnson has been Dean of the College of Communications and Information Studies at the University of Kentucky since 1998. He has also held academic positions at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Arizona State University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Michigan State University, and was a media research analyst for the US Information Agency. He has been recognized as among the one hundred most prolific publishers of refereed journal articles in the history of the communication discipline.

'This book is about making the jump from IT to KM; from engineering potential information flow, to managing effective information flow. No one can know all the information relevant to our work and interests. We rely on friends, colleagues, and productive accidents for cutting-edge information and for blinders to information it is socially acceptable to ignore. Our points of access are connected in a network around us, and Managing Knowledge Networks provides frameworks for surviving and thriving in that network. Johnson draws on his years of research on human communication to speak simply with clarity, coverage, and examples. Addressed to academic and practical audiences, this book would be equally useful for an upper-division college course, a graduate seminar, or a manager responsible for information access and flow in the organization.' Ronald Burt, University of Chicago

• List of figures; List of tables; List of sidebars; Preface; 1. Introduction and overview; Part I. Fundamentals: 2. Forms of knowledge; 3. Network analysis; Part II. Contexts: 4. Context; 5. Managing knowledge networks; 6. Technology; 7. The spatial distribution of knowledge; 8. Bringing in the world outside; Part III. Pragmatics: 9. Creativity and innovation; 10. Productivity: efficiency and effectiveness; 11. The human side; 12. Finding knowledge; 13. Decision making; 14. Summary and commentary; Bibliography; Index.