KM Tools: [Tool Name here]

[Also provide the company or author's name, and a link to further information on the tool.]

Evaluated by [Evaluator name and evaluation date here]

[This is the template for the evaluation of knowledge management tools as Assignment 1 for the CPE/CSC 580 Knowledge Management class. Replace the text in square brackets with your material, and put the completed file on the Blackboard discussion forum. Not all issues may be relevant for all tools; if this is the case, put N/A there.]

Tool Description

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[Give a brief overview of the tool, including its purpose, main functions, application areas, and interesting methods and technologies used.]

Addition of Knowledge

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[Although some knowledge management systems start from already existing collections of documents, the addition of knowledge to an existing collection is an important aspect. Interesting issues here may be who has the authorization to add knowledge, what procedures or mechanisms are used, how much effort it requires, and how the new knowledge is integrated into existing knowledge.]

Organization of Knowledge

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[The usefulness of a knowledge collection depends to a substantial degree on the accessibility of the knowledge objects. Even though search engines may be helpful here, knowledge has to be organized into a coherent and consistent structure. In a physical collection such as a library, the location of the actual object is usually the "backbone" of the structure, and additional tools such as catalogs are used for easier or faster access. Here you should discuss what methods and techniques the KM tool provides or supports. ]

Visualization of Knowledge

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[Vision is the channel with the highest information transfer capacity in humans, and consequently we rely heavily on it for dealing with knowledge. The visual display of knowledge, however, is a notoriously difficult task, and not many generally accepted methods have been identified. Here you should identify the visualization capabilities your KM tools provides, and how they help humans with the organization of knowledge.]

Knowledge Retrieval

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[For the end user, the most important aspect of knowledge management is the identification of and access to knowledge relevant for a task. Currently the most frequently used technique relies on keywords, and thus works at the syntactic level. Ideally, knowledge should be retrievable at the semantic level via concepts instead of keywords, or at the pragmatic level by including context and usage information. You should discuss the methods and techniques your tool uses for knowledge retrieval, and how they make the retrieval task as easy and fast as possible.]

Usage of Knowledge

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[The collection of meta-data about the usage of knowledge can be helpful for determining if some knowledge item is relevant for a particular task, e.g. through collaborative filtering. You should discuss here if and how your chosen tool offers support for better usage and utilization of knowledge.]

Knowledge and Collaboration

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[The development or maintenance of a knowledge repository often is an effort pursued collectively by many members of an organization, or of an informal group with common interests. You should discuss the support provided by your tool for collaborative efforts concerned with knowledge management.]

Knowledge and Organizational Memory

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[Some organizations are trying to capture the collective knowledge of their employees in a proprietary repository, often referred to as organizational memory. You should discuss here if and how your tool provides support for the establishment and management of such an organizational memory.]

Related Tools

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[List tools that perform similar functions or that are part of a tool family here.]

Other Issues

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[Since the listing of issues above may not completely cover all relevant aspects of knowledge management tools, you should identify and discuss additional issues that you find relevant.]

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