What is knowledge base editing?
See also What is knowledge base
publishing? and Montague Fellows in Knowledge
Base Publishing
We use the phrase "Knowledge Base Publishing"
to describe the integration of print, Web, and database publishing techniques
in a business context. Integration involves both editorial and technical
issues. While traditional publishing is linear and segmented, knowledge
base publishing is web-like, interconnected, and integrated into the user's
work flow.
The Knowledge Base Publisher is the business person
responsible for the bottom line impact of the content creation lifecycle,
from content creation and promotion to knowledge deployment and maintenance.
The Publisher's primary focus is increasing knowledge worker productivity
and adding shareholder value — i.e. lower costs, lower risk, increased
revenues. The actual implementation is carried out by Knowledge Base Editors.
Role of the Knowledge Base Editor
The Knowledge Base Editor's role is to acquire,
verify, organize, promote, and deploy the information in a knowledge base
system. The Editor's job begins, not with the content, but with the users
(audience) and the tasks they want to perform. The implication is that
there are multiple editors, and they will have an intimate understanding
of their audience and business processes. They are fluent in print, Web,
and database publishing processes. They are boundary spanners who know
how to identify and cultivate subject matter experts. They are architects
who can create publishing standards, policies, regulations, and taxonomies.
To perform in the Knowledge Base Editor's role, information
professionals need to know how to:
• Conduct a domain
analysis to determine the characteristics of the people, content,
and tasks involved in a business process or application;
• Create and apply a business
taxonomy to make content and people "findable" and produce
consistent, comprehensive reports;
• Integrate taxonomies
to bridge the conceptual gaps between two domains (e.g. doctors and
patients or R&D and marketing);
• Create a way of managing
metadata that is both efficient and responsive to the many "world
views" present in most large organizations.
• Teach information management skills to knowledge
workers and advise business unit managers on knowledge base strategies
(see Montague Fellows in Knowledge Base Publishing).
The Knowledge Base Editor-in-Chief
Although most Knowledge Base Editors work at the
department or business unit level, there is a role for an enterprise Editor-in-Chief.
This person works with senior managers and business unit editors to create:
- standardized names for corporate departments, products,
and geographic regions;
- an organization scheme for information of interest
to all employees;
- an enterprise thesaurus that maps key information
among departments and business units;
- tools, training, and advisory services for authors
and local editors;
- incentives for information sharing, such as departmental
training programs, job competencies, and compensation guidelines;
- new opportunities for revenue generation.
In other words, while the information technology function
provides the technical infrastructure for search, retrieval,
and collaboration, the knowledge base editing function provides the
intellectual infrastructure. Both types of infrastructure should
be integrated for maximum productivity.
Created on June 1, 1997 l Updated on
March 18, 2006
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