INTRODUCTION:

In recent years, the notion of knowledge management (KM) has expanded in popularity in the business sector. It's a relatively new phenomena that first appeared in the mid-1990s as an important part of strategic planning. Knowledge has become a valuable resource in our society in the information and knowledge age. To support efficient information management, flow, and interchange, the academic zone must develop information units based on sophisticated information tools and standards. Any academic institution requires a well-established library. It is expected to serve as a hub for teaching, learning, and research by providing standard information resources.

In the face of expanding digital technologies, university libraries are fighting to maintain their position as the primary source of research. Academic libraries and information professionals can utilise KM to improve the services they provide to their users. Every day, all sorts of libraries are undergoing significant changes, and they are increasingly becoming information centres.

Because the new knowledge economy and digital era are the foundations of our current society. It is expected to provide standard information resources as a focal point for teaching, learning, and research. In the face of expanding digital technologies, university libraries are fighting to maintain their position as the primary source of research. Academic libraries' new role in the twenty-first century must be as a learning and knowledge centre for their users, as well as an intellectual common for their communities, where people and ideas interact in both real and virtual environments to expand learning and facilitate the creation of new knowledge, to use a phrase from the Keystone Principles.

What is Knowledge?

Knowledge is the combined potential of people's abilities, competencies, ideas, intuitions, commitments, and motives, as well as the full exploitation of information and data. In today's economy, knowledge is people, money, leverage, action, performance, and adaptation. There are two main definitions of knowledge interest. Depending on the definition, the first offers access to a defined body of information, this could contain facts, opinions, ideas, theories, principles, and a model or another framework. Knowledge also refers to a person's mental state in relation to a source of knowledge. Ignorance, awareness, familiarity, comprehension, facility, and so on is examples of these states. Knowledge provides the ability to respond to unfamiliar situations. Knowledge can be found in ideas, judgments, talents, basic causes, relationships, viewpoint, and concepts, according to a holistic worldview.

Individual brains store knowledge, while organisational processes, documents, goods, services, facilities, and systems encode it. On whether knowledge is founded on the preceding notions, there is no consensus. Over the millennia, the major ideologies of each age have added their own definition of knowledge to the list. However, several insightful and thought-provoking definitions of "knowledge" exist, such as Bellinger’s critical distinctions in "Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom," in which he defines knowledge as a collection of experiences and situations to which a human may be exposed. Nicolas also provides two forms of knowledge at the same time. Michael Polanyis distinguished between expert knowledge (also known as expert knowledge) and expliant knowledge (also known as expert knowledge) on several occasions (formal knowledge), Explicit knowledge refers to personal knowledge founded in individual experience and involving personal belief, perspective, and valves, whereas tacit knowledge refers to personal knowledge rooted in individual experience and involving personal belief, perspective, and valves. This knowledge, which has not been documented, is stored in people's thoughts.

Knowledge Management (KM):

The term "knowledge management" refers to the process of managing information. It is the systematic management of an organization's knowledge assets with the goal of generating value and satisfying strategic objectives. Knowledge management is concerned with developing, securing, capturing, coordinating, and merging knowledge, as well as retrieving and sharing it. Librarians are a social organisation whose members teach, research, and provide services to users, transforming resources for their use. A growing amount of transactional information is being stored in databases, as well as knowledge contained in procedures and documents, as well as explicit and implicit knowledge in workers' heads. As the pace of change quickens and people change positions more frequently, information and expertise that was once confined to a single person or process is increasingly shared among multifunctional teams with short life spans operating in quickly changing systems and surroundings.

Knowledge Management and Information Technology:

Information technology is a broad phrase that refers to any technology that is used to create, store, exchange, or consume data in various ways. It is a crucial instrument in the knowledge management process. IT provides instruments to aid in the management of explicit knowledge as well as the development of communities of practice. Because most actual circumstances involve a mix of explicit and tacit knowledge, knowledge management can only be supported effectively and efficiently with an integrated set of information technology solutions.

The concept of document management has been replaced by information management, and the entire scenario of information management has begun to be replaced by knowledge management, thanks to the progress of information technology (IT) and its applications in libraries and information centres (KM). Many of the newer database and information/document management technologies, such as data warehousing, data mining, and text mining, can now be applied to knowledge management. Computer technology has had a significant and positive impact on the acquisition, storage, management, and dissemination of academic library content. All routine tasks in collection creation, reader services (circulation and reference services), serials administration, and technical services are completed using computers and related technology.

Academic libraries gain greatly from computer and IT applications. Libraries are facing significant changes in their environments as a result of the impact of globalisation, economic competitiveness, and the revolution of ICT. ICT tools and techniques, knowledge management systems, the internet, web resources, and digital libraries have all changed the way libraries operate. It is a significant challenge for library staff. In libraries, knowledge acquisition is the starting point for knowledge management. The use of IT broadens the breadth of knowledge acquisition, increases the speed of knowledge acquisition, and lowers the cost of knowledge acquisition.

Knowledge Management Goals in Academic Libraries:

Academic libraries' primary goal is to gather the information that consumers require. The rate of information generation is increasing all the time. Information pollution is occurring as a result of the massive amount of data available. It is critical to manage critical information in order to develop knowledge. The following are the goals: The relationship between the library and its users is provided through knowledge management. Knowledge management (KM) is concerned with the generation, acquisition, retrieval, and distribution of knowledge in academic libraries. Data is recovered faster and easier with KM, and information is disseminated more widely. Knowledge must be shared and serve as the foundation for collaboration, according to KM practitioners. Knowledge management necessitates the formation of knowledge managers. Knowledge management (KM) establishes knowledge repositories and maintains knowledge as an asset.

Academic libraries can improve their services in the knowledge economy by implementing knowledge management. This can be accomplished by fostering a culture of knowledge and expertise exchange within the library. Organizations, on the other hand, confront numerous obstacles in cultivating and managing knowledge. Academic libraries' success is determined by their capacity to use information and the knowledge of their employees to effectively serve the needs of the academic community. The knowledge and experiences of library employees, according to Lee, are the intellectual assets of any library and should be cherished and shared. Academic libraries, as part of the parent university, must look for methods to improve their services and transform into learning organisations that can figure out how to capture and disseminate tacit and explicit knowledge within the library.

Role of KM in Academic Libraries:

An academic library is a library that serves an institution of higher education, such as a college, university, or school, and it also serves two complimentary purposes: supporting the school's curriculum and university staff and students' research. Academic libraries are information centres established to assist their parent institutions' objective of generating knowledge and equipping people with knowledge in order to serve society and enhance mankind's well-being. Academic libraries confront difficulties from both within (academics) and without in the digital age (the business sector). The use of knowledge management (KM) improves the traditional functions of academic libraries.

Academic librarians' evolving role as knowledge managers emphasises the necessity to continually upgrade or acquire new skills and information in order to remain relevant in today's library environment. Academic libraries and information professionals can utilise KM to improve the services they provide to their users. Academic libraries are the backbone of any organisation or institution when it comes to information distribution, and the many services provided by the libraries are primarily meant to help the organisation achieve its objectives. The primary goal of a library is to offer the appropriate information to the appropriate user at the appropriate moment. Since a result, knowledge management in academic libraries cannot be overstated, as it aids in the expansion of conventional functions in the digital age.

Externalization:

This involves storing knowledge in a separate repository and categorizing it using a classification system. To collect knowledge and preserve it online, technologies such as imaging systems, databases, and so on are used. To identify similarities between different information sources, powerful search technologies are used.

Information:

That is, knowledge is extracted from an external repository and filtered to determine what is relevant to the knowledge seeker. The knowledge is retrieved, processed, and delivered to the seeker in the most appropriate format, possibly with some amount of interpretation.

Intermediation:

This is concerned with the transmission of tacit knowledge. It connects those who are looking for information on a given topic with others who pretend to be experts in that field. Groupware, Intranets, Workflow, and Document Management Systems are used to automate the process of intermediation.

Cognition:

On the other hand, this is the application of the knowledge gained and transferred in the preceding three positions. Few technologies exist to automate the cognitive process; those that do exist rely on an expert system or artificial intelligence.

As a result of the above, knowledge management is viewed as a different specialty by those working in other disciplines. As a result, functioning at different levels of professional discipline such as Library and Information Service, Marketing and Sales, Administrative System, and so on in the business where they are based, knowledge management can take on quite distinct meanings. As a result, the function of knowledge management in libraries will become increasingly vital as libraries evolve throughout this global economic downturn.

Knowledge Management Challenges in Academic Libraries:

Every librarian who works in a library wants to employ knowledge management strategies to help the institution achieve its goals and deliver better services to its users. Encourage creativity through encouraging the opening of channels of communication for ideas and information. Increasing the effectiveness and quality of decision-making continual improvement and the ability to learn from others Information and data selection and application allows you to simply support new technologies and record fresh information for future use.

Academic libraries may need to reorganise their services and expand their roles and obligations in order to effectively contribute to and meet the demands of a large and diversified university community. To successfully implement knowledge management activities in the workplace, knowledge managers must have a number of skills. University librarians must enhance their expertise in order to be effective in academic libraries. The transformation from librarian to knowledge manager is undeniable. The impending moves to incorporate knowledge management into library activities, on the other hand, will demand extensive planning. According to Bishop, the challenge for the information professional is to connect the skills developed in "managing information" to the bigger picture of "managing knowledge."

The greeter's problem is to manage organisational members' knowledge, which they require as a result of their years of expertise. Academic libraries' funding is contingent on their staff's ability to meet the demands of the University community more efficiently and effectively. Individuals must learn a new set of abilities in order to succeed in this environment. However, Bishop (2001) argues that managing knowledge necessitates a combination of technical, organisational, and interpersonal abilities.

In order to make knowledge more accessible, it is beneficial to have an awareness of the organization's customer service orientation and training skills Ten and Hawandeh, on the other hand, identified five essential skills for an information professional working in a knowledge-based environment: - IT literacy, defined as the ability to use appropriate technology to capture, catalogue, and disseminate information and knowledge to the target audience, as well as the ability to translate that knowledge into a central database for organisation employees to access; - A sharp and analytical mind; - Innovation and inquiring; - Enable knowledge creation, flow, and communication within the organisation and between employees and the general public. Academic libraries must, above all, encourage information professionals to keep their knowledge current.

CONCLUSION:

Knowledge management is a new field that incorporates elements from a variety of disciplines, including library and information science. It's making its way into government and educational organisations. Knowledge management can be used to achieve organisational goals in higher education and academic libraries. To improve efficiency, knowledge management can be included into a variety of library operations. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to establish partnerships with related units both inside and outside the university, as well as to increase the role of libraries in the academic community.

However, because of the complex nature of knowledge and its management, estimating and demonstrating the value of knowledge management is sometimes difficult. Despite the fact that there are numerous knowledge base products on the market, none of them are suitable for libraries or flexible enough to cope with the dynamically changing environment of the information age. Libraries with limited budgets and human resources should implement Knowledge Management using the current management structure and technology, either bottom up or top-down. With a concentrated effort, libraries can improve their operational efficiency and meet the ever-increasing needs of their patrons by implementing Information Technology in Knowledge Management. Library and information professionals can utilise knowledge management to improve the services they provide to their users. Knowledge experts must recast their positions as information professionals. Librarians' responsibilities should not be restricted to being information custodians; they must also learn how to stay current in order to deal wisely and objectively with effective and efficient knowledge management in academic libraries. Knowledge management can be made easier with the help of information technology and systems. Librarians and their employees should be trained in developing proper knowledge management systems and using information technology to equip libraries to give better, faster, and pinpointed services to their clients/users.

REFERENCES:

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Received on 19.02.2022 Modified on 03.03.2022

Asian Journal of Management. 2022;13(2):151-154.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5763.2022.00027