The Phenomemnon of Knowledge Management: What Does it Mean to the Information Profession?

Knowledge management is emerging as a key concern of organizations, particularly those who have already redesigned their business processes and embedded a total quality approach into their practices. Major consulting firms are now gearing up to add knowledge management to their lines of business. What does this mean to library and information service professionals? Does it mean that the nirvana of public appreciation and value is here? After all, don't librarians organize and provide access to knowledge? Is it yet another management fad of the type referred to by Hilmer and Donaldson1 that promises to be the technique to manage organizations smartly and effectively? Does it reflect a shift of balance in the business world to an emphasis on the knowledge end of the data-information-knowledge spectrum? Is knowledge management just a new income stream for consulting firms when other buzz words lose their luster? Or perhaps knowledge management is an oxymoron, and it will be followed in a fe