Trends and patterns of ‘Knowledge Management’ research in South Africa:
an informetric analysis of tacit and explicit knowledge management: an
informetric analysis of tacit and explicit knowledge management literature
By
Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha1
Abstract
This paper examines the nature, trends and patterns of knowledge management (KM) –
including Information Management (IM) – research in South Africa. Knowledge
management is a relatively new concept that has seen a phenomenal growth in interest
and activity from a variety of researchers. Using descriptive informetrics, this paper
analyzes KM documents from the Current and Completed Research (C&CR) and the
Index to South African Periodicals (ISAP) databases. The findings are presented under
the
following
subheadings:
distribution
of
records
by
year
of
project
commencement/completion/publication; sources publishing IM/KM research; institutions
behind KM research; growth of KM literature; interdisciplinary scope of KM research;
and KM researchers. Conclusions and recommendations as well as the implications of
KM research on LIS education are provided.
Introduction
Knowledge management is a relatively new concept (Jacobs, 2004; White, 2004) but has
had a “phenomenal growth in interest and activity, as seen in many new publications,
conferences, IT products, and job advertisements” (Corrall, 1999). The domain is
multidisciplinary and has attracted an increasing research attention in the recent past
(Kim, 2000). Marianne (1998) observes that 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 while major
1
Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha is a PhD student at the University of Zululand and an Assistant Librarian at
the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, P.O. Box 2500, ELDORET – KENYA. His research interests
include Informetrics/Scientometrics/Bibliometrics; Information Resource Management (IRM);
Management of Information Services; Knowledge management and organization; Information Searching
and Retrieval (ISR) – Email: b_onyancha@yahoo.com
consulting firms are now gearing up to add knowledge management to their lines of
business thus posing new challenges to Library and Information Science (LIS)
professionals. The increasing pressure on information researchers, planners, curriculum
developers and institutions lies in their response to the challenges being posed by
knowledge-based economy, knowledge management discipline, and e-business
(Chaudhry & Higgins, 2001) is significant.
Information professionals are increasingly becoming involved in organizational
knowledge management activities such as the design of the information architecture,
development of taxonomy, or content management of the organization’s intranet
(Ajiferuke, 2003). Other lesser roles that information professionals play in organizations,
according to Ajiferuke’s study on Canadian organizations, include providing information
for the intranet, gathering competitive intelligence, or providing research services as
requested by the knowledge management team.
Despite its recent emergence, knowledge management has become a ripe subject domain
for research and bibliometric studies. As Jacobs (2004) notes, KM has, of recent,
received massive publications thus becoming, bibliometrically, a researchable area. She
observes thus, “only recently has a critical mass of work been published to enable the
concept to be viewed from a bibliometric perspective” (p. 211). There seems to be an
emerging multidisciplinary approach to research on KM in South Africa involving
several individuals, institutions, and themes that are worth investigating. In addition, an
evaluation of the success of senior degree programs through the analysis of the theses and
dissertations produced by the Masters and Doctoral students provides an insight into the
nature, trends and issues of knowledge management research.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to provide a description of the nature, trends, patterns and
issues of KM (including Information Management – IM) research as reflected in the
Current and Completed Research (C&CR) and the Index to South African Periodicals
(ISAP) databases as well as demonstrate the application of informetrics and its research
methodologies in the evaluation of research output using knowledge management
literature emanating from educational/academic programs. The study also presents results
of an informetric analysis of masters and doctoral theses and dissertations in order to gain
an insight into the trends and patterns of LIS research, in general and knowledge
management, in particular, in institutions of higher learning in South Africa.
Literature review
Read-Smith, Ginn & Kallaus et al (2002) recognizes knowledge management as an
essential tool for any organization aspiring to be successful especially in its management
and use of knowledge resources, which can be broadly divided into two categories
namely tacit and explicit knowledge. Whereas explicit knowledge is contained in
documents, databases, e-mail, or other records, tacit knowledge is acquired through
observation, practice, and imitation (Read-Smith, Ginn & Kallaus et al 2002). The latter
“relies on experience, judgment, and intuition and is exhibited through employee skills or
‘know-how’” (2002:317). The authors further describe knowledge management as an
“interdisciplinary field that is concerned with systematic, effective management and
utilization of an organization’s knowledge resources ... it encompasses creation, storage,
retrieval, and distribution of an organization’s knowledge – similar to records and
information management” (p. 317). On his part, Kim (2000:3) explains that knowledge
management is a “discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying,
managing and sharing all of an organization's knowledge assets including unarticulated
expertise and experience resident in individual workers … it involves the identification
and analysis of available and required knowledge, and the subsequent planning and
control of actions to develop knowledge assets so as to fulfill organizational objectives”.
Saffady in Read-Smith, Ginn & Kallaus et al (2002:11) defines knowledge management
as the “effective management and use of an organization’s knowledge resources,
including the knowledge and experience of its employees”. Kim (2000) observes that
managing books, journals, and other similar resources, and conducting searches in such
resources for clients or arranging for the circulation of materials is just but part of
knowledge management. From the foregoing definitions, KM is an elusive phenomenon.
In fact its exact meaning and scope is still a subject of debate. In Wilson’s view, “KM
rests on two foundations: (1) management of information and (2) effective management
of work practices” (Wilson in Chowdhry, n.d.). It is on this account that we included
records on IM in the final analysis.
Davenport in Kim (2000:3) outlines various processes that knowledge management
entails, notably, acquisition, creation, packaging, and application or reuse of knowledge.
Whereas knowledge acquisition involves, for example, finding existing knowledge,
understanding requirements, and searching among multiple sources, knowledge creation
comprises research activities, creative processes in advertising, writing books or articles,
and making movies, among others. Some of the processes that go into packaging
knowledge are publishing, editing, and design work while applying or using existing
knowledge is done through such activities as auditing and medical diagnosis. Some of the
examples of the processes in the reuse of knowledge for new purposes, according to
Davenport, are leveraging knowledge in product development processes and software
development.
The importance of managing knowledge in an organization is on the assumption that in
the knowledge economy, employee knowledge, skills, and experience are valuable
resources, which can be fully utilized particularly when effectively managed. On that
note, Read-Smith, Ginn & Kallaus et al (2002:317) advise that “if an organization
recognizes that it is a part of the knowledge economy and that it employs knowledge
workers, it may be engaged in knowledge management activities to make effective use of
its knowledge resources”. Thus, it has become increasingly important for knowledge
professionals to be actively involved in jointly holding the reins of knowledge
management with users and the technology experts, and in helping steer and shape the
knowledge policies, structures, processes, and systems that will nurture organizational
learning (Kim, 2000).
Opportunities for librarians and the roles that they can play in KM activities are
enormous. According to several LIS professionals such as Marshall, Remeikis, and Foy –
just to name but a few – (all as quoted in DiMattia & Order, 1997), librarians do have
many opportunities and a big role to play. Consider the following statements on the
librarians’ roles and opportunities in KM as reproduced from DiMattia & Order (1997).
“What is needed is someone who combines the skills of a webmaster, technical
communicator, librarian, and business analyst, and/or has people with those sorts
of skills working for him or her” – Swedish KM authority Karl Eric Sveiby.
“[Librarians] know more about gathering, categorizing, and distributing
knowledge more than just about anyone, and they are usually good at eliciting the
knowledge requirements of their customers” – KM expert Tom Davenport
(University of Texas).
“Information professionals should look for the power brokers and become their
allies, exhibiting management skills, even though it is not our traditional
expertise” – Joanne Marshall, Associate Professor Faculty of Information Studies,
University of Toronto.
“There are editors and abstracters, people involved in managing our corporate
intranet, many jobs that are parts of the KM piece. I think there are lots of
opportunities for information professionals” – Lois Remeikis, Director of
knowledge and Information Management at Booz, Allen & Hamilton.
“[KM represents] a huge opportunity [for librarians]. But it means that many
librarians have to be willing to do different things than they may have in the past.
Many are capable, but you may have to sell yourself differently, you may have to
learn presentation skills, you may have to take very different responsibilities” –
Trish Foy, Director of Coopers and Lybrand’s Knowledge Strategies Group
All these and many more statements/observations may help in refining our KM courses at
LIS schools/departments so as to produce quality KM workers.
A few studies have been conducted to monitor and describe research and education on
knowledge management. Jacobs (2004) conducted a bibliometric study to describe the
concept of KM using a structural interpretation of related literature from 1993 to 2003 in
order to provide an empirical structure that can be used to describe the emergence of, and
contributors of KM. Using Thompson Scientific’s (formerly Institute for Scientific
Information [ISI]) Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
and ABI Inform, Jacobs analyzed 491 records and identified the most published and most
cited researchers as well as the most productive countries of knowledge management
literature. Two patterns of growth of KM literature were identified in the study. It was
found that KM gained popularity around 1996 beyond which there was an exponential
growth in the number of records up until 2001 in which year the author suggests that KM
was redefined. Thereafter, the KM literature continued to grow exponentially.
Chaudhry & Higgins (2001), on the other hand, conducted a study to investigate the state
of KM education. The study describes the levels of courses, curriculum areas and topics,
and differences in emphasis in teaching knowledge management courses in different
departments and schools, based on the web-based descriptions of course programs of
selected universities in Australia, Canada, Singapore, UK, and the USA. In that study,
Information Systems/Studies was the leading school offering courses in KM with a
posting of 40% of the total 30 KM courses that are offered at Masters Degree level. It
was followed by Business Administration (35%) and Computer Science (14%). Both the
course titles and subject content differed greatly from one institution to another. In some
institutions, the course title simply read “knowledge management” while in others, it was
called “Knowledge Management and Decision Systems”, “Information Architecture and
Knowledge Management”, “Intelligence Systems and Knowledge Management”, and
“Management of Information Systems and Services”. Others referred to it as
“Information and Knowledge Management”, and “Knowledge Management in Health
Services”, etc.
Methods and Materials
Two databases were purposefully selected from among the South African Bibliographic
Network (SABINET) databases, namely, the Current & Completed Research (C&CR)
and the Index to South African Periodicals (ISAP) for purposes of collecting the
bibliographic data. C&CR contains South African research projects covering the social
sciences, humanities, economic and management sciences and includes masters and
doctoral theses of South African universities, and technikons as well as information on
research projects from non-governmental organizations, private sector and government
departments. ISAP is a bibliographic database owned and produced by the National
Library of South Africa. It covers indexed articles from more than 900 South African
periodicals. Specialist periodicals are indexed fully, whereas general and popular
periodicals are indexed selectively. Two broad phrases “knowledge management” and
“information management” were used to search for and download relevant documents
both from the C&CR and ISAP. This approach was necessitated by the fact that all
“knowledge management” records were classified under the subject “Information
Management” in the C&CR database. The search was conducted within the subject field
using the ADVANCED search mode.
The two databases produced a total of 554 records that were presumed to be
representative of knowledge management research activities in South Africa. C&CR
produced 90 records while the ISAP yielded 464 publications. The C&CR documents
were primarily theses and dissertations while those indexed in ISAP mostly consisted of
journal articles. Using descriptive informetrics, and more specifically publications count
and analysis, this work analyses data in order to examine the trends of LIS research; to
compare research in various sub-disciplines of LIS, including knowledge management; to
examine the trends of research in knowledge management; to identify the institutional
affiliation; and to consider the interdisciplinary activity so as to determine the disciplines
utilizing knowledge management, among other variables. Microsoft Word (©2003)
largely was used for purposes of removing duplicates and upon the removal of duplicates
data were subjected to analysis using BIBEXCEL software, which was specifically used
to calculate the frequencies. Microsoft Excel ©2003 was thereafter employed in the
presentation of data by use of graphs and Tables. Data were analyzed and presented by
the years of commencement/completion/publication; by the sources publishing
knowledge management research; by the affiliate institutions; by the subject domains;
and by the individuals behind information management/knowledge management
research.
Results and discussion
The results are presented and discussed in six sub-headings as follows:
1. Distribution of records by year of commencement/completion/publication
2. Sources publishing KM research
3. Institutions behind KM research
4. Growth of KM literature
5. Interdisciplinary scope of KM research
6. KM researchers in South Africa
Distribution of records by year of commencement/completion/publication
A total of 554 records were analyzed according to the years of commencement,
completion, and publication as shown in Figure 1.
200
e
180
Number of Records
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
19841985
19861987
19881989
19901991
19921993
19941995
19961997
19981999
20002001
20022003
20042005
ISAP
9
2
5
20
16
16
37
72
138
93
56
C&CR_Completed
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
11
19
6
C&CR_Commenced
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
3
26
31
6
TOTAL
9
2
5
20
16
18
38
76
175
143
68
Year of commencement/completion/publication
Fig. 1: Distribution of records by years of commencement/completion/publication
Data were grouped into 11 year-periods in order to show the trend of research. Some
records in the C&CR database contained two dates, i.e. the years of commencement and
completion, and both were included for analysis. Figure 1 provides a trend analysis and
publications pattern from 1984, when, according to this study, the first paper was
published to the current year, 2005. In this case (i.e. ISAP), there were 9 records in 19841985 year-period and except for the 1986-1987 year-period which produced only 2
records, there was a continued growth in the number of publications in the subsequent
years, reaching peak at 136 records in 2000-2001. Thereafter, there was a decrease to 93
publications in 2002-2003 and a further decline of the publications to 56 in 2004-2005. In
the case of the current and completed research projects in South Africa, it was not until
mid 1990s (i.e. 1994-1995) that research on knowledge management was begun. This is
probably because curriculum and course introduction and development and subsequent
approval in universities sometimes take a bit of time. Unlike in Jacobs’ (2004) study
which shows that publication of knowledge management research began in 1994, this
study’s finding places that earliest publication in 1984. This discrepancy can however be
attributed to the inclusion of information management as one of the search phrases. In
fact, the only article that was published in 1984 was on information management.
Sources publishing KM research
One hundred and thirteen sources published KM literature between 1984 and 2005 as
shown in Table 1. It can be seen that most publications (296 or 63.8%) were published
between 2000 and 2005. There was no source that published KM literature before 1984.
Most sources began publication in the mid 1990s. At the top of the Table is a source that
is subject domain-specific, i.e. Knowledge Management, which began publishing KM
literature in the second half of the 1990s. So far, this source has published 39 documents
followed by Computing South Africa (31) while Convergence and the South African
journal of library and information science (formerly known as South African journal of
libraries and information science) have published 26 documents each between 1980 and
2005.
Table 1: Sources publishing KM Literature
Source
Knowledge management
Computing SA
Convergence : achieving global competitiveness
South African journal of library(ies) and information science
Management today
Financial mail
BusinessIT Africa
Intelligence
People dynamics
HR future : South Africa's independent human resource magazine
NETmaster Africa
Finance week
South African journal of business management
Southern African forestry journal
Elektron
Innovation
ITWeb brainstorm
Networktimes
Career success
Finansies & tegniek
Meta-info bulletin
Service delivery review
CEO: celebrating excellence in operations
Computer graphics
Executive businessBrief
Government digest
Productivity SA
Southern African business review
Farmer's weekly
Mousaion
Professional management review
Enterprise: networking for Africa's entrepreneurs and leaders
Information technology review
Martin Creamer's engineering news
Mining world
South African computer journal
Others
TOTAL
Management-,
business
administration-,
19801984
1
1
computer
19851989
2
2
1
3
8
science-,
19901994
18
2
1
2
1
3
1
1
13
42
19951999
18
14
1
6
9
8
3
1
1
1
3
3
3
1
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
27
117
human
20002005
21
17
26
5
15
6
15
7
11
13
12
8
6
6
3
5
8
7
4
4
3
6
5
4
5
5
3
4
2
1
4
2
2
1
1
49
296
resource
management- and library and information science-related sources are the leading
TOTAL
39
31
26
26
21
17
15
15
14
13
13
9
9
9
8
8
8
8
6
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
1
464
publishers of KM research. They occupy the first 10 positions in Table 1. As can be seen,
five sources (i.e. Knowledge Management, Computing South Africa, Convergence, South
African Journal of Library and Information Science, Management Today and Financial
Mail) can be said to be the key contributors of KM literature. The emergence of
knowledge management-specific sources in the mid 1990s is likely to change the pattern
of publication of KM literature in other sources and even result in the establishment of
core sources.
Institutions behind KM research
Only data collected from the C&CR database were analyzed for this section since the
ISAP database does not provide information on institutional affiliation. Rand Afrikaans
University produced the highest number of records (22) while the University of Pretoria
was in the second position with 19 records as shown in Table 2. On the part of the
schools or departments engaged in IM/KM research, the departments of Information
Studies (Rand Afrikaans University) and Information Science (University of Pretoria)
contributed the highest number of records each (i.e. 17). LIS departments were the most
dominant most probably because KM has been classified alongside IM in the C&CR
database. A significant number of documents (19) were produced by other departments.
These included schools/departments of Business Administration, Economics, Information
Technology and Communication Sciences, Business Management, Sociology, Computer
science, Public administration/management, industrial and systems engineering,
languages media and communication, nature conservation, Business information systems,
Skills development and technology transfer, and business informatics. Similar findings
were reported by Chaudhry & Higgins (2001). The authors, while surveying the
schools/departments offering knowledge management course(s), found that majority of
the schools/departments were subject domain-specific, namely, school/dept of
Information systems, information management and systems, information and library
studies, information studies, archival, library and information studies, information
science, and knowledge management, etc. Other schools/departments included that of
business administration/management, management, computer science, health and
community medicine, etc. All these attest to the fact that knowledge management has a
multi-disciplinary impetus and scope and is a broad-based concept (Jacobs, 2004).
Table 2: Institutions behind IM/KM research
Institution
Department
No. of records
University of Zululand
Dept of Library and Information Science
2
University of the Witwatersrand
Graduate School of Business Administration
2
Information Systems
1
Dept of Library and Information Science
2
Dept of Economics
1
University of Technology, Free State
School of Information Tech. and Communication Sciences
1
University of Stellenbosch
Dept of Sociology
1
Dept of Information Science
3
Dept of Business Management
1
Dept of Information Science
9
Dept of Computer Science and Information Systems
1
University of the Western Cape
University of South Africa
University of Pretoria
Dept of Information Science
17
School of Public Management and Administration
1
Dept of Industrial and Systems Engineering
1
University of Port Elizabeth
School of Languages, Media and Communication
1
University of Natal
Information Studies
5
University of KZN (Pietermaritzburg)
Information Studies
1
University of Cape Town
Centre for Information Literacy
2
Dept of Information Systems
1
School of Librarianship
1
Dept of Office Management and Technology
1
Dept of Nature Conservation
1
Dept of Computer Science and Information Systems
1
Technikon SA
Programme Group: Public Management and Development
1
Rhodes University
Dept of Information Systems
1
Rand Afrikaans University
Dept of Information Studies
17
Tshwane University of Technology
RAU Standard Bank Academy for Information Technology
3
Dept of Business Management
2
Potchefstroom University for CHE
Dept of Information Studies
1
Port Elizabeth Technikon
Dept of Business Information Systems
1
Foreign University
General
1
Durban Institute of Technology
Centre for Skills Development and Technology Transfer
5
Cape Technikon
Faculty of Business Informatics
1
Growth of Knowledge management literature
Growth is commonly used to refer to not only the increase in the number of documents
published in a subject field but also increases in sources of documents (Diodato, 1994).
According to Diodato (1994) the simplest forms of growth measurements are: documents
published, documents cited, authors listed by indexing and abstracting services, or
number of journal titles. Price (as cited in Tague, Beheshti & Rees-Potter, 1981:126)
identifies four such indicators of growth, notably, the number scientists, number of
journals, number of scientific abstracts, and amount of scientific expenditure. Growth of
literature is sometimes considered to be a “measure or operational definition of growth of
knowledge” (Tague, Beheshti & Rees-Potter, 1981:126). Several studies have been
considered to examine growth of literature especially in emerging fields or subject
domains (e.g. Jacobs, 2004; Pratt, 1992).
Table 3: Growth of KM literature
Number of authors
C&CR
Researchers
Study leaders
ISAP
Number of Journals
ISAP
Number of Institutions
C&CR
19801984
19851989
19901994
19951999
20002005
0
0
1
0
0
12
0
0
44
4
1
113
97
39
291
1
6
21
50
80
0
0
0
3
17
In a study conducted by Pratt (1992), four indicators were used to measure the growth of
AIDS literature. These included the number of records entered in the MEDLINE
database, the number of countries publishing journals carrying articles on AIDS, the
number of journals, and the number of languages in which the literature was published.
The current study examined three indicators in order to describe or measure the growth of
IM/KM literature. From just one author (in the case of ISAP) in the early 1980s, the
number of researchers has continued to grow exponentially. For instance, there was a
twelve-fold increase from one author in 1980-1984 to 12 authors in 1985-1989 while
1990-1994 recorded almost a four-fold increase from the previous year-period.
Subsequent year-periods recorded slower growth rates, with 1995-1999 producing 113
authors (which is almost three times that of the previous period) and 2000-2005 yielding
291 authors (almost double the number recorded in 1995-1999). The trend of the
publishing sources is similar to the one of authors. In the case of C&CR, IM/KM research
began after 1995 with the number of researchers growing from just 4 in 1995-1999 to 97
in 2000-2005, a percentage increase of 2325%; the number of study leaders growing from
one to 39, an increase of 38 (or 3800%) study leaders; and the number of institutions
engaged in IM/KM research growing from 3 in 1995-1999 to 17 in 2000-2005, a
percentage increase of 467%. Crane in Tague, Beheshti & Rees-Potter (1981),
categorizes the stages of growth into a slow start, a period of exponential growth, a
period of linear growth, and finally, a period of slow and irregular growth. This study,
and as shown in Table 3, could not find such a pattern of growth as proposed by Crane
although the pattern of publication of IM/KM papers in the ISAP database was close. The
non-conformity of this study’s findings to Crane’s pattern of growth may be due to the
short period in which IM/KM has been researched. The subject field is still new. Perhaps,
a longer period of a subject field’s existence may conform to Crane’s four stages of
growth.
Multidisciplinary/Interdisciplinary scope of KM
According to Ponzi (as cited in Jacobs (2004:216), “disciplinary activity and breadth are
interdisciplinary measures that indicate which disciplines are contributing theories or
methods to the development of other disciplines”. In other words, analysis of literature
may indicate how broad a discipline’s scope is. Knowledge that is shared across many
disciplines is likely to attract several people who may want to conduct studies in the
subject domain. For academic institutions, this interest may translate into the
entrenchment of the subject field in the curriculum.
Documents were classified into eight subject fields, namely, Information Science,
Business Administration, Computer Science, Public Administration, Library Science,
Management, Technology, and People. The distribution of records according to these
subjects is given in Table 4. Majority of the KM records in the Current and Completed
Research projects database were produced by the Information Science discipline, which
yielded 82 records. In the second position with 4 records was Business Administration
followed by Computer Science (2) while Public Administration and Library Science
yielded one record each. Management was the highest contributor of theories, methods
and practices in KM research. The discipline contributed 156 records followed by
Information Science (145), Computer Science (67) and Business Administration (58).
Others include Technology (46), People (11) and Library Science (7). Apparently,
therefore, Information Science, Management, Computer Science, and Business
Administration, are the major contributors of KM literature and hence the key areas
utilizing IM/KM research. Information Science featured prominently partly because of
the use of “Information Management” as a search phrase. Nevertheless, it indicates that
the several LIS schools in the country have entrenched KM into its curriculum.
TABLE 4: INTERDISCIPLINARITY OF IM/KM RESEARCH
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
C&CR
Information Science
Business Administration
Computer Science
Public Administration
Library Science
TOTAL
Number of records
82
4
2
1
1
90
ISAP
Management
Information Science
Computer Science
Business Administration
Technology
People
Library Science
Others
TOTAL
Number of records
156
145
67
58
46
11
7
16
464
KM literature researchers
Researchers play a very important role in the growth and development of an emerging
subject discipline. Jacobs (2004) argues that the advent of a discipline is dependent on the
researchers who take interest in new ideas or solving problems. In this study, we provide
a ranked list of study leaders who have contributed greatly to IM/KM research in South
African Universities (as indexed in C&CR) and the authors of IM/KM literature in ISAP.
Table 6a provides a list of study leaders while Table 6b shows the most productive
authors of IM/KM literature in the Index of South African periodicals.
As shown in Table 2, a total of 101 researchers were involved in IM/KM research
between 1995 and 2005 at institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Most of these
researchers/authors were Masters students (54) while Doctorate students numbered 22.
The rest of the research was conducted for purposes of non-qualification for an award of
an academic degree. Concerning the study leaders, Table 5a shows that there were 39 of
them with the leading (Du Toit ASA) producing 12 records followed by 8 records from
Snyman MMM while Van Brakel PA produced 5 records. According to Onyancha
(2005), study leaders – otherwise known as academic supervisors – are as equally
important in the growth and development of a discipline as the researchers themselves
(i.e. students) since they offer academic guidance to students throughout the period of
research and in most cases, they end up being co-authors of papers generated from such
research activities (Ocholla, 2000).
Table 5a: KM research: Study Leaders
Rank
1
2
3
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
Name
Du Toit ASA
Snyman MMM
Van Brakel PA
Theron JC
De Beer CS
Britz JJ
Terblanche F
Ocholla DN
Ngulube P
Kaniki AM
Dick AL
Cronje JC
Zaaiman JJ
Wessels CH
Vermaak HJ
Venter RB
Van Rensburg ACJ
Van Der Walt TB
Van der Walt MS
Van der Merwe R
Number of records
12
8
5
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Rank
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
Name
Underwood PG
Stilwell C
Roode JD
Rensleigh CW
Nieuwenhuizen C
Mouton J, Fouche B
Maxwell TJ
Majanja MK
Lessing N
Leibold M
Labuschagne L
Kroeze JH
Fouche B
Eloff JHP
Drevin L
Darch CM
Brynard PA
Barnes NR
Barnard A
Number of records
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 5b: KM research: Authors with two and more records
Rank
1
2
3
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
Name
Stadler, C.
McLeod, D.
White, T.
Walters, N.
Strauss, D.
Queck, C.
De Bruin, H.
Botha, D.F.
Bidoli, M.
Pellissier, R.
Gordon, G.
Du Toit, A.S.A.
April, K.
Van der Westhuizen, J.
Sveiby, K.-E.
Sutherland, M.
Snowden, D.J.
Manson, H.
Louw, A.
Kinnear, L.
Johnson, R.
Frost, T.
Carroll, C.
Boon, J.A.
Badenhorst, C.
Wittles, G.
Von Gadow, K.
Vegter, I.
Van Rooyen, L.
Van der Kooy, R.
Number of records
12
10
7
6
6
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
Rank
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
Name
Theunissen, C.A.
Swanborough, R.
Ngulube, P.
Naidoo, V.
Myburgh, S.
Mullon, P.
McCloghrie, S.
McClean, D.
Loithaler, G.
Jovanovic, R.
Jones, L.
Heck, M.
Gouws, E.
Gorelick, C.
Gibson, K.
Fouche, B.
Eyles, N.
Els, F.
Eedes, J.
Duffy, N.
De Villiers, J.A.
Davenport, T.H.
Cook, L.
Campbell, H.M.
Bredenkamp, B.V.
Botha, M.
Blom, A.
Berman, S.
Beisiegel, H.
Andrew, B.
Number of records
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
On the part of the authors indexed in ISAP, three hundred and forty one researchers
participated in IM/KM research. Ranked number one in Table 5b is Stadler whose
publications total 12 followed by D. McLeod with 10 publications and White (7) while
Walters and Strauss produced 6 publications each. These authors and many more others
(who produced one article each) can be said to have contributed to the growth of
knowledge on IM/KM since 1984. The stability and further growth of the subject domain
depends on these individuals and other new entrants into IM/KM research. It would be
interesting to examine these authors’ occupations in order to evaluate the extent of
involvement of LIS professionals in KM research. The result will also indicate the
influence KM has had on LIS professionals.
Conclusions and recommendations
In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that KM has become a ‘hot topic’ in
Library and Information Science, perhaps owing to the opportunities the area has created
for information professionals to work in knowledge management organizations. The
concept has attracted a variety of researchers; a situation that has made its breadth of
research to include business administration, public administration, computer science, and
management. The concept’s growth and development is reflected in the growing numbers
of researchers, institutions, and sources that publish KM literature. Growth of literature
has continued to be on an upward trend since the emergence of KM in the mid 1990s.
However, this growth of literature can only be sustained or improved through the
popularization of KM research, particularly in the institutions of higher learning. Further
research in this area is dependent on the availability of the previous research findings
through such resources as theses, dissertations and journals. It is our belief that if the
dissertations and theses were digitized and made publicly accessible, there will be less
duplication of research and the situation is likely to improve the quality of research in
eastern, central and southern Africa. Other countries in eastern, central and southern
Africa are also called upon to follow South Africa’s example and construct databases of
theses and dissertations produced in their institutions of higher learning. The reestablishment of the East African Community and the strengthening of SADC provide
opportunities for sharing these resources for furtherance of research in LIS.
We also recommend that KM be included in the LIS curriculum of all LIS schools in the
SCECSAL region. Read-Smith, J., Ginn, ML, & Kallaus, NF, et al. (2002:11) recognize
the importance of entrenching KM in the LIS curriculum. The authors argue thus:
“As companies integrate their systems and technologies, they also place a greater
emphasis on their knowledge resources. This includes both recorded
documentation and unrecorded information, the information that exists through
the knowledge and experiences of a company’s employees. This area provides
new opportunities for records and information management professionals,
working with other information managers, to harness the power of a company’s
intellectual capital”.
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