Seek and you will find, share and you will benefit: Organising knowledge using groupware systems

Knowledge has been of growing importance in economic life during the last century, and most organisations depend on knowledge for their existence. Knowledge is both external and internal to the organisation, explicit within the organisation or tacit, resting with its employees. There are different forms of knowledge, and knowledge is the intellectual capital of organisations. This valuable capital can be collected, documented, classified and organised, using a new type of computer software, the groupware. Certain tools must be employed to organise knowledge into the groupware for it to function as a solution for knowledge management. These are the tools which the library and information specialist, trained in records management, has at his disposal. The groupware can produce definite benefits for the management of any organisation and for its knowledge management. However, in order for the groupware to meet expectations, the introduction of it must be planned and it must be correctly implemented, as only correctly implemented can the groupware become the solution for organising and preserving the knowledge base of the organisation.