Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with knowledgemanagement

Need help with personal knowledge management!

fsmontenegro — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:04:15 -0800

How are people organizing their information (professional and personal) in this day and age? What kind of system is flexible enough to cope with multiple data types (PDFs, DOCs, short text notes, hyperlinks, ...), efficient during collection (when browsing the Web, when reading documents, ...) and won't get in my way when I try to use it? (I looked into existing posts - good start, but I'd like suggestions that also incorporate whole files and not just bookmarks and snippets)

I'm trying to find a coherent system using multiple tools - mindmaps, note taking tools, file search tools and others - so that I can be more productive in storing and finding the right information. A personal Memex if you will, similar to Vannevar Bush's original idea but with proper search.

I'm an IT/Network Security Architect/Engineer. I deal with information on a daily basis - from configuration snippets and links to product documentation to written reports and form documents. Sometimes the entire document is relevant and sometimes a simple summary or just a snippet may do.

I've used mind maps (with MindManager) since 2001 and I love the concept and the tool. I've used it to take notes when studying, to create document structure and then exporting to Word, to capture notes in meetings, etc...

I've recently been introduced to Microsoft OneNote. It also seems very, very powerful in organizing information - notebooks, sections, pages, etc... all searchable and nicely integrated into Windows. I've come to rely on OneNote for screen captures, print outputs and the integration of short notes to my PDA.

I find desktop search tools (initially Yahoo's Desktop - an OEM of X1 - and now Google Desktop, with its' capability to search MindMaps...) to be also very, very good at helping find information, especially when it is in a structured document (Word, PDF, ...)

Finally I know there's other tools out there:
- Wikis (web-based and local storage) TiddlyWiki as a good example
- Evernote
- Scrapbook firefox extension (excellent for local storage of pages!)
- Delicious
- Google Notebook
- Stars and tags in Google Reader and other RSS
- others… heck, I've heard of people using iTunes to manage their PDFs!

I read Lifehacker, I do GTD (I use it in a slightly modified fashion) and I live the inbox zero concept. My issue is not so much task management as information management.

So, what kind of systems are people using for managing their information? What's the best way of keeping track of some configuration details for firewalls I work with? How can I easily store (and retrieve) interesting RSS posts? Suggestions for storing (or not) a PDF whitepaper on something?

Thanks!

Open source social networking or KM tool for an intranet

TheDonF — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:07:08 -0800

I'm either after a free, open source social networking app or a free, open source knowledge management app for my company's intranet. My company has two different change teams that work on large projects. One works just in customer service, the other works for the rest of the company. They want to share information on projects they've worked on and personal experience they have. To this end, I want to install an online app to support them. However, do I want a social networking app or a KM one?

I'm not after loads of features - the important thing is that people can document whatever they want to in an easy, non-code writing (ie, no wiki) way.

Can someone recommend either a social networking or KM app that they've used on an intranet? We're running version 5 of both PHP and MySQL. The only stipulation, other than it must run on that platform, is that it must be free.

Knowledge Management, obsolete??

Xurando — Fri, 26 May 2006 07:04:08 -0800

Does Knowledge Management have any validity as a professional field of expertise or have internal wikis made it obsolete? I am consulting to a large (30, 000 person) organization that is seeing a large turnover as half of its workforce is, soon to retire, baby boomers. Although a lot of the expertise in this organization is technical in nature, most of it is specialized and anecdotal in nature. Most of the anecdotal knowledge will be lost without a knowledge management strategy.

I know Knowledge Management was a big deal about 6 years ago but seems to have disappeared off the map. Have wikis made it moot? The organization is looking at knowledge management strategies and as decided that an internal wiki will be the answer to their problem. I have argued that a wiki is just a small part of a knowledge management strategy and that they should look at several options beside wikis.

What tools should they be looking at beyond wikis? Is there a case that can be made for knowledge management as field of professional expertise?

blogging in os x via rendezvous

kingfisher, his musclebound cat — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 08:59:16 -0800

What it the easiest way to create a blog locally hosted on my machine (OS X, Panther)? Can it be done with Personal Web Sharing and some wonderful Aqua app I don't know about? I would like to create a blog to as an info resource for projects, but would prefer for it to be local. I know Panther comes with Apache, but is it enough? I know I could edit page after page, but don't want to. Ideally, there would be an app I could install that would facilitate this sort of local blogging. Is there? Or do I need to install mySQL and some sort of blogging application like WordPress? (Or is it better to just use a password protected external site and reassure, weekly, the anxious people I work with that it's ok, the information is safe, and it's not that sensitive after all?)

Web-based Expert Systems: advice, experiences, resources needed

kenaman — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 06:03:06 -0800

Web based Expert Systems.
Does anyone have any experience in this area of development?
Advice, experiences, pointers to resources/components samples, downloads would be very much appreciated. Have read a little since posting this question and wish to add that ideally the rules would be in a database rather than in code.

I suppose what I am looking for is an Expert System Shell which can serve clients on the web and would have a good interface for the Expert using it to add rules or the like.