A taxonomy of the expected roles of librarians towards knowledge management. An eight-layer perspective for practice
| Pages | 34-44 |
| Date | 14 January 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-08-2017-0081 |
| Published date | 14 January 2019 |
| Author | Sajed Abukhader |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
A taxonomy of the expected
roles of librarians towards
knowledge management
An eight-layer perspective for practice
Sajed Abukhader
College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between the various layers of roles and
tasks of librarians with the various knowledge types and methods. Although there are multiple benefits
anticipated with knowledge management (KM) schemes in libraries, the practical side of it among Library and
Information Science (LIS) professionals is not yet notable or evident.
Design/methodology/approach –Taxonomy building and Delphi method were two means of research
deployed to achieve the declared purpose.
Findings –It was possible to achieve several steps into structuring a taxonomy but yet further work has to
be accomplished in order to consummate the taxonomy. For this, means of group interviewing method along
with perhaps sponsorship of association relevant to librarianship might be an appropriate approach.
Research limitations/implications –Delphi process was not possible to be fully exercised and completed
due to limitations of limited number of participants as well the overwhelming feeling of participants had
toward the unfamiliar content. It would have been more rewarding to have physical meeting in groups to
overcome such limitations.
Originality/value –This paper lays the foundation stone of a multi-layer taxonomy for roles of librarians
toward KM. The taxonomy also unveils a dimension that librarians often miss when discussing KM. It also
models the categories of knowledge types for LIS. Thus, the LIS community is urged to contribute in the
development of this taxonomy which could become the handbook of reference in KM for librarianship.
Keywords Taxonomy, Library and Information Science, Librarianship, Knowledge management,
Delphi method, Roles of librarians
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Whereas a good deal of literature (of Library and Information Science (LIS) discipline)
emphasizes the relevance and multiple benefits of knowledge management (KM) to libraries,
unfortunately explanations and guidance for how to implement KM, how it starts and how it
gets incorporated in libraries are supported with much less momentum of research and
evidence. Recent research (Roknuzzaman and Umemoto, 2009; Fergusson et al., 2008)
concurs that the practical side of implementing KM among LIS professionals is not yet
notable. While it is true that many studies (e.g. Roknuzzaman and Umemoto, 2009;
Sarrafzadeh et al., 2009; Rooi and Snyman, 2006; Hamid and Nayan, 2005) show that there is
a wide recognition among LIS practitioners of KM relevance to librarianship; however,
“many LIS professionals simply don’t draw a hard and fast distinction between their role
and that of the knowledge manager,”as Fergusson et al. (2008) concluded. They in fact go
beyond and assert (regarding roles and practical side) that “there is no evidence in the
literature that the situation has changed significantly,”and they believe that “indeed,
several barriers to LIS involvement in KM are noted.”What may demystify this situation is
that a number of serious observations persist, as explained next.
The first observation is that the span of perceptions among LIS professionals about KM
relevance as well as rolesis unfortunately wide (reported in depth in Rooi andSnyman, 2006;
Library Management
Vol. 40 No. 1/2, 2019
pp. 34-44
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-08-2017-0081
Received 24 August 2017
Revised 2 January 2018
Accepted 29 January 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
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LM
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