Information Extraction from Interviews to Obtain Tacit Knowledge: A Text Mining Application

One of the most challenging knowledge management tasks is to obtain, summarize, and present tacit knowledge. It is important to develop approaches for creating insightful summaries from the knowledge obtained. In this paper, we present different information extraction methods for summarizing interview transcripts. Manual, semi-automatic, and automatic text analysis are evaluated to transform tacit knowledge into explicit form and to substantially reduce the time required to perform this transformation. These approaches are described in the context of a real application

How Intranets Differ From The Web: Organizational Culture\u27s Effect on Technology

An intranet is what you get when applying web technology inside an organisation and therefore – seen from a strictly technical perspective – intranets are almost identical to the public Web on the Internet. Reviewing available intranet research, it appears most academics seem to assume that intranets and Internet are identical also in other aspects. In this argumentative paper it is suggested that this assumption is erroneous and instead I argue that usage of and attitudes towards intranet differ significantly from that of Internet. Since these differences seem to have evaded academic interest, intranet research has been too single-dimensional, and in this article the organisational culture perspective is suggested as a theoretical lens for understanding intranets. The effects of organisational culture on web technology use and management are highlighted and discussed and the paper presents implications for both research and practice

THE PERCEPTION OF USING WEB BASED LEARNING BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia implemented a policy to develop its educational infrastructure to reduce oil dependency. Saudi Higher Education (SHE) has come under increasing pressure to mobilise new technologies; however, pedagogical change has proven difficult. Web Based Learning (WBL) has recently emerged as a tool increasingly used within education for communicating and sharing information. A growing number of studies into WBL have largely ignored students’ perspective, a necessity to conceptualise the next generation of WBL. Therefore, this Thesis explores WBL’s nature and how it facilitates individual learning and knowledge sharing in Saudi Arabia. 48 SHE students participated in a user-oriented, process-based, exploratory and qualitative study. Research questions were conceptualised using theoretical sampling, in-depth interviewing, 3-step coding, and Constant Comparison Data Analysis methods. Investigative issues consisted of two perspectives. The technological perspective researched participants’ digital technologies constructs, perceived self-efficacy and awareness of technology importance and usefulness. The administration perspective investigated the roles of undergraduate students; importance of technology integration; infrastructure, training and support; and the importance of building a technology resource-base. The core findings highlight that effective integration of digital technologies currently appears challenging. All participant groups exhibited difficulties in conceptualising effective technology integration, however other results were optimistic. Participants reported a high degree of technology familiarity, expertise, awareness and self-efficacy. However, three major challenges were identified; domination of cultural-religious conservatism; traditionalism in curriculum design/associated pedagogical practices; the centralised process of implementing technology. The research sheds light on the role of Experiential Learning Theory and Narcissism Theory and how learning is conceptualised, tacit knowledge made explicit, and shared within different contexts of using WBL. Furthermore, this study provides educators and educational organisations with real data that defines good practice in WBL’s use