Strategic Knowledge - What's Being Taught

Nancy Gershenfeld at the UWiSchool is Putting it Together

In the latest e-Profile from SMR International, Marcie Stone interviews Nancy Gershenfeld, Senior Lecturer at The Information School at the University of Washington.

Stone’s conversations with Gershenfeld bring to light several noteworthy connections between LIS graduate learning and the requirements of employers seeking to operate in our continually evolving knowledge culture.

And the connections are perhaps not all that surprising, when you review what’s going on at the iSchools (as they are popularly known). There’s a welcome and very strong philosophy behind the work of these institutions as they seek to learn more about the relationship between information, people, and technology and connect all they learn with the strategic learning “piece” of knowledge services. With the good work being done in the iSchools, the future for strategic knowledge professionals seems bright indeed.

And who better, over in the education wing, to lead the charge than an experienced veteran of the corporate world, a knowledge thought leader who now has a new role, helping to design the evolving curriculum for people who will be doing this work?

As it happens, Gershenfeld’s career – as Stone makes clear – has paralleled the emergence of the new corporate knowledge culture. Having worked as an information manager, an online database trainer, a litigation support database specialist, and as a consultant, Gershenfeld went to Microsoft. Working in the company’s Information Services operation, Gershenfeld was able to acquire particularly unique qualifications for teaching graduate students pursuing the MSLS and related degrees. In Stone’s essay, which with a nod to Stephen Sondheim is titled “Putting it Together – Creating New Leaders for the Knowledge Culture,” it becomes evident early on that Gershenfeld is a person who attracts people who want to learn about how to lead in the new knowledge environment. As for Gershenfeld, she delights in bringing them together with the expectations, requirements, and, yes, even the sometimes difficult challenges of the business world. Having made that point, she then emphasizes to her students the need for businesslike management in knowledge services.

At the same time, Gershenfeld is careful to recognize that all concepts do not transfer automatically from one management arena to another. Gershenfeld gives considerable attention – as Stone puts it – to ensuring that students understand the value of striking a workable balance. If knowledge services as an operational function is going to perform as a strategic partner with the many and varied other perspectives at play in the corporation, balance will be key. The benefit of maintaining this balance is found in the working relationships that come about between strategic knowledge professionals and the affiliates and colleagues who benefit from the services they provide. It is, as Stone points out, an important step in identifying and cultivating the next generation of leaders for the profession.

Read “Putting it Together – Creating New Leaders for the Knowledge Culture” here at the SMR Site. You can also see this e-Profile at SMRShare, SMR International’s knowledge capture site.