The KM Chat held on October 29th at the iSchool was a huge success. The two speakers were Wilda Newman and Susan Fifer Canby, both of whom have made great contributions to our profession. Wilda Newman worked for many years at APL and was a key figure in introducing KM practices there; she currently teaches KM at Catholic University and consults on KM issues as well. Susan Fifer Canby is the VP of Libraries and Information Services at the National Geographic Society.
Both of them were great and conveyed their experiences and their "knowledge" to a group of about 30 students, faculty and some MIM (Masters in Information Management) students who attended for the first time. The MIM students do not receive an MLS degree and usually have careers in more IT oriented positions.
Both Chatters answered questions on a wide variety of topics that included differences in definitions among data, information and knowledge and helped demonstrate what can be accomplished with KM as well as what they have implemented. They may have convinced a few in the audience that perhaps this was an area to be investigated more thoroughly -- as well as the benefits of belonging to SLA, of course! It was a very interesting chat.
The success of the Chat was due in no small measure to the efforts and hard work of Jamie Peacock and Kate Lanahan, Chairs of the SLA Student Group, who posted the Chat on the NIng, put up flyers to advertise it, got responses from this large number of attendees, arranged for the refreshments and welcomed the speakers. The new venue for the Chat, near the lounge, was well thought out with a "Chat in the round" feel where the speakers were part of the audience. Thanks to them and any others who helped with setting up and clearing up. And thanks to Trudi Hahn, faculty liaison to SLA, who was also in attandance. Kudos to all.
--Judy Tapiero
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