Personal Memex. The Vision Over the last few years, I’ve been interested in the fields of Personal Knowledge Management (or PKM) and Personal Learning Environments (or PLE). I’ve been a knowledge worker as long as I can remember, and have subsequently searched long and hard for numerous software applications and systems to help me better process, organize, and retrieve information. I’ve tried many different free and commercial solutions (outliners, PIMs, personal knowledge bases, mind mapping software, notebooks/pad, etc.), but none of then were 100% complete in my mind.
Then, In 2006 I came across Vannevar Bush, and learned about his amazing vision for the Memex (or “memory extender”). The memex is the name given by Vannevar Bush to the theoretical proto-hypertext computer system he proposed in his 1945 The Atlantic Monthly article As We May Think. “Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. What is It, and What Can It Do? Core Components in Use. TLt2010 Presentation on Net Work Learning.
I am presenting at Tlt2010 in Saskatoon this morning. Here’s the overview: The network era is blurring the lines between working, learning and playing. As we become more connected, our governing models, our business structures, and our ways to support learning are all getting more complex. Social learning is how knowledge is generated in networks – and networks are where many of us will be working. The Spiral of PKM 2.0 (new graph) « Participating in the Un-Book.
USING SOCIAL SOFTWARE. Personal knowledge management and iKnow. There is no common agreement on the definition of knowledge - this is our view... Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom Personal Knowledge Management A core focus of PKM is 'personal inquiry', a quest to find, connect, learn, and explore. See also - KM 3.0 - Data represents unorganized and unprocessed facts - Information is processed data to get some meaning (what, who, when, where) - Knowledge is human understanding of information by learning and thinking (how) - Wisdom is knowledge "aged" with experience (why) PIM vs. A personal information manager (often referred to as a PIM tool or, more simply, a PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. As an information management tool, PIM applications are primarily used to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information" (journal, address books, calendar dates (birthdays, meetings), reminders, e-mail).
MS Outlook is probably the best-known PIM in use today. PKM in 2010. Other PKM processes. It seems that Stephen Downes isn’t enamoured with my PKM process: My first thought was, do I do it this way? And, of course, I don’t – my process is much too haphazard to be dignified with the term ‘method’. But then I thought, what does the concept of a ‘method’ here imply? That there is a ‘best’ way to manage knowledge an information? Isn’t that what we’ve learned there isn’t? It’s a pick-and-choose sort of thing: the way we manage information has a lot to do with the information, and a lot to do with who we are and what we want the information for.
To be clear, my intention is to show what works for me and perhaps some part of this may work for others. For example, here is a graphical representation of Lilia Efimova’s process: This is Urs Frei’s representation of PKM: And here is a model of social networking technologies and PKM skills from a group of researchers at the University of Florence: Learning and KM insights - 03 December 2007. Personal knowledge management. Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a collection of processes that a person uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve, and share knowledge in his or her daily activities (Grundspenkis 2007) and the way in which these processes support work activities (Wright 2005). It is a response to the idea that knowledge workers increasingly need to be responsible for their own growth and learning. (Smedley 2009) It is a bottom-up approach to knowledge management (KM), as opposed to more traditional, top-down KM.
(Pollard 2008) History and Background[edit] Although as early as 1998 Davenport wrote on the importance to worker productivity of understanding individual knowledge processes (cited in (Zhang 2009)), the term personal knowledge management appears to be relatively new. Models[edit] Dorsey (2000) identified information retrieval, assessment and evaluation, organization, analysis, presentation, security, and collaboration as essential to PKM (cited in (Zhang 2009)). Criticism[edit] eLearning Technology. Great dialog between Harold Jarche and Stephen Downes around Harold's PKM process … Stephen Downes wrote in response: … what does the concept of a ‘method’ here imply?
That there is a ‘best’ way to manage knowledge an information? Isn’t that what we’ve learned there isn’t? It’s a pick-and-choose sort of thing: the way we manage information has a lot to do with the information, and a lot to do with who we are and what we want the information for … Harold responded with Other PKM processes where he shows some other models and states: To be clear, my intention is to show what works for me and perhaps some part of this may work others. Harold and I have discussed this exact issue before and we are both on the same page that Personal is really important word in Personal Knowledge Management.
Anyone who has seen me present know that I give a big caveat with the word Personal on the slide. So, while I push a lot around tools and methods for work and learning: Creating your PKM processes. In Sense-making with PKM I described some personal knowledge management processes using various web tools. The overall process consists of four internal actions (Sort, Categorize, Retrieve, Make Explicit) and three externally focused ones (Connect, Contribute, Exchange). Personal knowledge management is one way of addressing the issue of TMI (too much information). A sense-making routine can be regularly reading certain blogs and news feeds, capturing important ideas with social bookmarks and then putting ideas out in the open on a blog. The power of this process is realized after many iterations when you have created a personally contextualized knowledge base.
PKM takes the notion of a personal journal and extends it significantly. In Web Tools for Critical Thinking I expanded on Dave Pollard’s critical thinking process, showing how web tools can be used to develop critical thinking skills. Chapter 1. Introduction — Mathemagenic.