Rivers of knowledge

9th Specials, Health and Law Libraries Conference

Outside the square: Library and information services innovations within a knowledge management context

J Marconi
Department of Human Services, Adelaide, South Australia

Introduction

This paper describes the library service innovations implemented to ensure that the knowledge needs of South Australian Department of Human Services workforce, and knowledge workers in particular, are met. The library and information services has undergone a shift in role from 1999 with the introduction of a knowledge management approach for the Department and these changes are outlined. Observations about challenges, barriers and future directions are also offered.

Background

The Department of Human Services in South Australia was formed in 1997 amalgamating the South Australian Health Commission, South Australian Housing Trust and Family and Youth Services. This restructure brought together four libraries with diverse subject coverage and customer groups. That is, the Health Commission, Family and Youth Services, Housing Environment and Planning and Rural Health Training Unit Libraries.

A knowledge management approach was adopted by the Department's Information Management Services through the appointment of a Director of Knowledge Management in July 1999. The library and information services were recognised as a key service within the newly established knowledge management group that also consisted of e-business strategy, data warehousing, management and analysis services and web services.

An integrated structure for the Department of Human Services (DHS) libraries was endorsed in July 2000 paving the way for new library innovations supporting a departmental knowledge management approach.

The DHS Knowledge Management context

The Department of Human Services has adopted a knowledge management approach that supports key organisational outcomes. There are five major strategic directions that scope out the future for the DHS. They are:

• 'Improving services for better outcomes;
• Increasing the state's capacity to promote quality of life;
• Redistributing resources in a changing environment;
• Strengthening a culture of working together;
• Providing sound management' [1].

These strategic directions are underpinned by the strong focus on leadership, service excellence, accountability, valuing staff, innovation and enthusiasm, respect for customers and staff and acting with integrity. [1]

During 1999 the knowledge management group of functions aligned under the management of the Director for Knowledge Management (KM), Iolanda Principe. Functions currently contained in this group include:

• e-business and e-records management strategy;
• knowledge strategy;
• library and information services;
• organisational information services (data warehousing, management and analysis);
• web services.

Since this time, a Framework and Guide for Knowledge Management in the Department of Human Services [2]was written in June 2001 and recently endorsed by the department's executive management group. This framework outlines key definitions, principles, objectives and responsibilities for KM within the department. It is designed as a practical guide for staff in the department in implementing a KM approach within their business unit while mapping out an organisation-wide approach.

The principles articulate a range of elements from valuing employee knowledge as a key asset, to sharing knowledge and working collaboratively through to employees having the right to access the information / knowledge they need through appropriate systems.

The key KM objectives are:

• Leveraging the use of existing departmental knowledge;
• Fostering the creation of new knowledge;
• Enhancing the retention of knowledge (especially when people leave); and
• Improving knowledge transfer to clients. [2]

Within this framework, the development of a knowledge centre has been identified as a key initiative for the KM program. This knowledge centre [2] [3] is a focal point for knowledge skills and the facilitation of knowledge flow within the organisation and requires the transformation of the current library and information services to fulfil this function.

The KM framework is focussed on:

• The evolution of knowledge workers;
• The links between organisational strategic directions and KM;
• The links between knowledge / information / new economy initiatives (state, national and international) and KM within the DHS strategic plan;
• Effective measurement or evaluation of KM strategies and initiatives;
• Demonstration of KM best practice;
• Capturing organisational intellectual capital and effectively measuring how this occurs particularly within an organisational cultural context. [2]

The DHS in South Australia is leading the way in the successful implementation of knowledge management within the public sector. This was recognised through the Government Information Technology Productivity Awards in 2000 when DHS won a gold award for its Knowledge Management Program.

Library and information services in the KM context

So what is different for the library in this KM context?

The current challenges for the library and library team are to:

• Support the development and meet the needs of knowledge workers (ie staff who are able to deploy their existing knowledge for improved decision making and innovation and to create and share new knowledge).
• Provide access to knowledge (external and internal to the department, explicit and intangible) for improved decision making and innovation.
• Enhance the department's capacity to capture its knowledge (explicit and intangible) and its ability to use this knowledge to further strategic objectives.

The barriers currently include:

• 'My' customers vs 'your' customers following amalgamation that have inhibited the integration of library services and seamless access.
• Traditional library practice that is focussed on library information provision rather than operating from customer knowledge needs base.
• Library culture that does not maximise opportunities for learning, innovation and creativity...that is, thinking outside the square!
• Library skill sets based on traditional approaches to library service delivery.
• Customer and organisational perceptions of what a library is and what it can or can not do.
• Wide discrepancy in customers' capacity to use knowledge and information technology effectively.
• Organisational processes and infrastructure that inhibit the uptake of new enabling technologies.

The shift in approach for the library in this knowledge management context is summarised below.

The current challenge for the library within this emerging knowledge enabled department is how to further this shift and overcome the barriers identified above. Following is a description of the library's new role and a summary of the initiatives that have begun to reposition the library and information services as a key knowledge enabling service within DHS, South Australia.

The library as a knowledge centre

With clear evidence that customers want more tailored services delivered in an appropriate and timely way [4], it has become clear that the library must shift from a passive knowledge facilitating role to a pro-active knowledge broker role. That is, that the library team is able to identify new opportunities for closer partnerships with departmental staff and offer services that add value and build on the organisational knowledge base.

In the KM context this means the provision of value added services that:

• Support improved decision making and innovation for better service delivery and organisational strategic outcomes through research and professional development of staff;
• To leverage knowledge resources within the library and the department (external and internal, tangible and intangible) to assist knowledge workers create new knowledge and capture and build on existing knowledge.

There are numerous creative and innovative ways in which the library can achieve these value added services and become a re-intermediary knowledge agent. For example, in working with departmental projects, the library can provide its expertise with the support of additional resources from the project allocations. This also requires that library staff work with its customers beyond the library walls. This type of work already happens informally on an individual and ad hoc basis and, consequently, is not currently captured by existing library measurement tools.

David Skyrme outlines the elements that create a knowledge centre in his paper, Knowledge management: making it work. These elements have been captured in the DHS framework document and they scope out the future transformation of the current library services.

What is a knowledge centre? 'It:

• identifies sources of important knowledge, both inside and outside the company
• catalogues and indexes material so that retrieval is efficient and effective
• maintains and sustains the knowledge repository (the knowledge bank)
• provides a one stop shop for multiple information needs
• knows who can help - pointers to people as well as information
• runs a client advisory service - offering expertise on sources, their availability, relevance, quality and overall usefulness to the business.'[3]

While it can be argued that the library already does this to some extent now, within the KM framework, the shift for the library to a knowledge centre relies on extending what it already does well and formalising some of the informal or intangible knowledge processes that occur. The library team has an extensive knowledge base about the work being carried out in the department. Therefore, we are in an excellent position to contribute to the organisational knowledge base, for example, about who can help and what other knowledge (explicit or intangible) exists in the department.

The task in the next few months is to articulate this transformation of the library service into a knowledge centre that also supports the broader organisational KM goals. That is, to describe, in a practical way, how the library will contribute to building the organisation's capacity for improved knowledge creation, storage and transfer. A service delivery charter or strategy document will be developed and this document must also have a clear customer focussed approach.

In addition, there have been several initiatives that assisted the library team to position itself for these and other changes in the future. They are:

• Enhancing partnerships with customers through knowledge need assessment processes;
• The development of a Balanced Score Card for the library and information services;
• Evolving library culture for innovation and learning;
• The realignment of Communications and Public Relations, Health Promotion South Australia and Knowledge Management groups.

Knowledge needs assessment

The DHS library and information services library has initiated a strong customer participation process within its business planning. This customer base includes:

• central office departmental staff;
• Family and Youth Services and Housing Trust staff, metropolitan and rural based;
• metropolitan community health staff (without access to other health agency libraries);
• rural health practitioners, including GPs, hospital and health services and community and allied health services staff;
• non-Government community services (DHS funded).

The Housing Environment and Planning site of the DHS Library also provides services to the following external customers:

• Department of Environment and Heritage staff;
• Planning South Australia staff;
• Office of Local Government;
• Industrial and Commercial Premises Corporation;
• Land Management Corporation.

These combined groups represent over 9000 potential individual customers with diverse and complex knowledge needs.

A key activity in the integration of library services for the DHS was the implementation of a qualitative focus group process to identify customer needs. [4] Focus groups were conducted with metropolitan and rural based customers during April and May 2000.

The focus group questions were designed specifically to explore information needs as broadly as possible and to identify a wide range of barriers to accessing information. This allowed for the exploration of issues beyond the square, that is, beyond traditional Library environment thinking and within a knowledge management context. Strategies emerged that were not necessarily bound by traditional concepts of library function or services.

What questions did we ask our customers?

• What information do you and / or your staff need to do your work effectively?
• Is this likely to change in the future? If so, how?
• How do you currently obtain this information?
• What obstacles hinder you and / or your staff in accessing this information?
• What strategies could be developed to overcome these obstacles and to better meet your information needs?
• If you could create the ideal Library and Information Support Service what would it look like? (Services provided, how these are accessed, etc.)

The issues fell into the following categories:

• Infrastructure and IT (limited/no access to intranet, internet, hardware, software);
• Organisational barriers (intranet/internet access policies, inconsistent versions of software, etc);
• Resource restrictions (not enough money for IT and information resources);
• Skills and Knowledge limitations (customers didn't have adequate IT skills, lack of access to training);
• Time-related constraints (information overload, not enough time to research);
• Library access barriers (lack of awareness about library services, etc).

The groups also identified the following issues:

• Knowing who is doing what in the department; for example, a departmental projects register was difficult;
• Access to existing departmental job descriptions, policies, procedures, etc (rather than re-inventing) was not available;
• Having access to or being able to identify experts in the department or in other agencies in areas of interest / need was difficult.

It was expected also that the delivery of information in the future would be electronic, faster and more tailored to need without sacrificing personal relationships with the library staff. Participants indicated that the library should provide a filtering interface with seamless access to a wide variety of knowledge sources while maintaining close relationships or partnerships with customers.

As a result of the customers' feedback from the focus groups, the library undertook the following activities for better online access through web enabling technology:

• Intranet pages were redesigned.
• Web paged designed inhouse.
• Increased access to electronic knowledge bases relevant to non-health / clinical knowledge workers.
• Implementation of the South Australian Human Services Libraries Consortium clinical, evidence based knowledge bases (that is, SALUS project).
• Library promotion and training program.

The strategic benefit of these initiatives is that knowledge workers now have improved access to quality, evidence based knowledge. Specifically, this knowledge is available easily and quickly, potentially seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

The next challenge is to ensure that future customer participation processes enable clearer identification of knowledge worker and organisational needs and that innovative service delivery strategies are implemented to meet these needs. The balanced scorecard is one tool that will assist in this process.

The balanced score card

The DHS in South Australia has adopted the balanced scorecard as a key reporting tool for the measurement of strategic and intangible outcomes. The scorecard methodology enables the measurement of objectives that target organisational change, and, specifically, innovation and creation.

The library team was asked to develop a balanced scorecard as a case study that will be posted on the DHS KM Intranet initiative, the Knowledge Space. It will be used as an learning tool, that is, to promote discussion about what worked and did not work in the process of developing it and how this can be used as an example for others.

This exercise has clearly demonstrated the value of creating a strategy map with higher level outcome statements that align to the strategic vision for human services. More importantly, mapping how customer, financial, business operation and learning and growth objectives are inter-connected to support the strategic themes enables the reporting of intangible benefits.

The draft library and information services Balance Scorecard strategy map looks something like this:

Sitting beneath this map is the detailed scorecard that outlines the objectives, assumptions, measures, targets and initiatives for each perspective.

This reporting tool has enabled us to identify the key strategic themes that are underpinned by the DHS knowledge management framework and begin to encapsulate the library's transformed role. Ultimately, it provides the library with a clear map for future developments that are predominantly focussed on customer knowledge needs and evidence of the strategic and intangible benefits the library can deliver to the organisation and its customers.

Library culture

Critical to the successful integration of the library service, so that is truly reflective of knowledge management principles, is the evolution of a learning culture, that is, modelling the KM approach within the library team. As a first step, the team has undertaken customer service and team building activities.

Through the provision of a tailored training program, the library staff have been able to:

• Identify the issues that prevent us from embracing change;
• Identify the existing gaps in skill set and knowledge that are required to become a knowledge enabling service for the department;
• Improve the way we communicate with one another and, consequently, with our customers;
• Extend our collective understanding of the department's strategic directions and need to integrate and extend our business to support innovation;
• Create a culture of learning within the library team so that we are better positioned in the future to adopt new technologies and innovative service delivery solutions.

Learning to share the knowledge within the team and creating an environment where it is safe experiment with new ideas will enable us to more effectively contribute to the organisational knowledge base.

Business realignment - Communication, public relations, health promotion and KM

As of 1 July 2001, the business units related to organisational communication and change processes and marketing and promotion were realigned under the direction of both information management services, chief executive officer, and the director of strategic policy and planning. The synergy of combining these functional groups was recognised by the department's executive management.

For the library it means a new opportunity for closer partnerships with key departmental knowledge workers who have skills and expertise in:

• Communication systems and strategy;
• Publicity, promotion and marketing and customer relationships;
• Capacity building for organisational change and knowledge creation, capture and retrieval; and
• Organisational publishing (ie creating knowledge assets).

The benefit for the library, in the first instance, is a more cohesive departmental approach to capturing organisational knowledge through improved publishing policies and protocols. Currently, the library strongly advocates for its involvement in these processes to ensure legal deposit requirements are met and copies are available, not only within the department, but also nationally and internationally.

The potential within this expanded group for further service delivery innovations and the enhancement of relationships with customers is great and an opportunity the library will take up eagerly. Specifically, the library will also be looking to expand its expertise in processes for engaging with customers through partnerships with the staff in these functional areas.

Future directions

The challenges and barriers have been clearly defined previously. The library has commenced its journey, beyond its traditional library role, to support the organisation's knowledge management approach. The initiatives that have contributed to this reorientation have also been described.

Future directions for the library that will build on these initiatives, at least in the short term, are:

• Establishment of a service delivery strategy that articulates the knowledge centre approach and shift to knowledge broker and enabling service including the building stakeholder and customer partnerships
• Development of improved processes for the mapping of future customer and organisational knowledge needs;
• Adopting reporting tools that measure the strategic and intangible benefits of library service delivery innovations, eg the Balanced Scorecard;
• Continuing reorientation of library culture to foster learning and knowledge for innovation within the library team;
• Participating as key partners in the KM program and initiatives to build the organisational knowledge base that captures both explicit and intangible knowledge.

Conclusion

The DHS library and information services has made a solid start in positioning itself for future directions heralded by the department's knowledge management approach in the broader context of the new economy and information enabled society.

A key challenge as been to engage with customers about their needs in a meaningful way and asking the hard questions about how the library conducts its business. The library has done and will continue to do this by thinking outside the square of traditional concepts of customer relationships and service delivery.

Critical to the re-orientation of the library to a knowledge centre is accurate data about customer knowledge needs, involving customers and knowledge workers in library business planning and creating a library team that can adopt new strategies for improving services, particularly in an evolving online environment. Measuring the strategic and intangible benefits the library delivers in relation to organisational change and innovation will also be a key marketing tool for the library.

Within the DHS knowledge management context, the library must seize opportunities to forge new partnerships so that it can contribute to the organisation's capacity to create, capture and share its knowledge - whether it is in the form of tangible knowledge assets or the knowledge contained within its people.

References

1. Human Services Portfolio Strategic Plan 1999-2002 (1999). Adelaide, S. Aust: The Department of Human Services.

2.Framework and Guide for Knowledge Management in the Department of Human Services. Adelaide, S. Aust: The Department.

3.Skyrme, D. (1999) 'Knowledge management: making it work'. In The Law Librarian, Vol31, No2, pp84-90 June. http://www.skyrme.com/pubs/lawlib99.htm

4.Kate Barnett and Associates and Marconi, J (2000) Planning for your information needs: DHS library and information services customer needs assessment. Adelaide, S. Aust: Dept of Human Services.