Introduction

The utilisation of an
The intranet and knowledge management are not
intranet as a knowledge new concepts. Many organisations have realised
management tool in that an intranet can empower their employees. It
can also boost the organisation’s competitive
academic libraries advantage, improve employee’s morale and
improve communication among clients and
suppliers (Yen and Chou, 2001, p. 80). Intranets
Hamilton Mphidi and also offer new ways to manage and communicate
Retha Snyman data, information and knowledge (Kim, 2003,
p. 66). A literature review indicates that research
has been done on the utilisation of an intranet as
a knowledge management tool in, for example,
law firms and the business environment
(Robinson, 1999, p. 95; Du Rand, 2000, p. 1).
However, little research has been done on the
utilisation of an intranet as a knowledge
The authors management tool in academic libraries,
Hamilton Mphidi is Information Specialist in the Academic especially in South Africa.
Information Service and Retha Snyman is Professor in the Therefore, the purpose of this article is
Department of Information Science, both at the University of to determine the extent to which academic
Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. libraries in South Africa utilise the intranet
as a knowledge management tool. Findings
Keywords
from other environments, such as the business
Academic libraries, Intranets, Knowledge management environment, as found in the literature, will
serve as background for the discussion.
Abstract Based on the literature, knowledge management
The intranet has emerged as one of today’s most effective tools and an intranet are briefly defined. The
for knowledge management. This article reports on the extent to advantages of an intranet as a knowledge
which three South African academic libraries, selected by means management tool as well as the content of an
of the purposive sampling method, utilise the intranet as a
intranet are also discussed. Opinions about
knowledge management tool. Based on the literature,
knowledge management and an intranet are briefly defined. The
knowledge management and the utilisation of an
advantages of the intranet as a knowledge management tool as intranet as a knowledge management tool in
well as the content of an intranet are discussed. The opinions three academic libraries in South Africa, are
about knowledge management and the utilisation of the intranet subsequently weighed up against the findings in
as a knowledge management tool in the three academic libraries the literature.
are weighed up against the findings in the literature. It is clear This article focuses specifically on three
that a strong awareness exists of the importance of knowledge academic libraries in South Africa, selected by
management and the value of the intranet as a knowledge
means of the purposive sampling method, and
management tool. However, the potential of the intranet as a
knowledge management tool is not utilised fully. referred simply to as libraries A, B and C for
privacy purposes. In purposive sampling the
Electronic access researcher may prefer to select a sample based
entirely on his/her knowledge of the population
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at and the objectives of the research (Powell, 1997,
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister p. 69). When designing a survey of large
academic libraries that utilise intranets, the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is easiest way of obtaining a sample of such libraries
available at
would be to select libraries known to be utilising
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
intranets and that are willing to participate in the
research. The research would be based on the
assumption that such a sample would be
reasonably typical of all academic libraries
utilising an intranet. During the research,
The Electronic Library
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2004 · pp. 393-400
individual semi-structured interviews were
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0264-0473 carried out with the representatives of the
DOI 10.1108/02640470410561901 libraries.
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Value of knowledge management for organisational asset (Perez, 1999, p. 75).

academic libraries Knowledge management harnesses the
knowledge resources and knowledge capabilities
Knowledge management is defined by the of the organisation in order to enable the
Gartner Group (2000, p. 1) as a discipline that organisation to learn and adapt to its changing
promotes an integrated approach to identifying, environments. It also facilitates continuous and
capturing, evaluating, retrieving and sharing all ongoing processes of learning and unlearning,
the information assets of an organisation. thus ensuring that the need for imposing top-
Balcombe (1999, p. 1) defines knowledge down radical change is minimized (Malhotra,
management as systematically capturing, 1998, p. 1).
sharing, using and creating knowledge to add If libraries use and share knowledge,
value to the organisation. It also refers to it will improve their services (Jantz, 2001,
effectively identifying, acquiring, developing, p. 34). According to Malhotra (2000, p. 54)
resolving, using, storing and sharing knowledge, knowledge management enables libraries to
to create an approach for transforming tacit organise and provide access to intangible
knowledge into explicit knowledge (Shanhong, resources that help librarians and administrators
2000, p. 13). to carry out their tasks. Shanhong (2000, p. 7)
For the purpose of this article and based on the argues that knowledge management injects
abovementioned definitions, knowledge new blood into the library culture,which results
management can be defined as a process of in mutual trust, open exchange, studying,
identifying, capturing, sharing and exploiting sharing and developing the knowledge operation
knowledge (both tacit and explicit). In order to mechanism of libraries. Dillon (1999, p. 3)
determine the value of the intranet as a knowledge also states that knowledge management has
management tool at the three academic libraries, it value in the sense that it emerges as a powerful
is necessary to determine their understanding of focal point for exploiting technology to add value
knowledge management. Table I presents to many information-processing environments.
definitions of knowledge management as provided This is particularly true for universities and
by the three academic libraries. libraries.
The definitions provided by the three academic If knowledge management is applied in
libraries corresponded with the definitions libraries, personal knowledge may be turned
obtained from the literature. It is also clear that into corporate knowledge that can be widely
they fully understood what knowledge shared throughout the library and applied
management is. Apart from their understanding of appropriately. Knowledge management can
knowledge management, their understanding of help employees to produce outputs that
the value of knowledge management was also tap into their skills, talents, thoughts and
examined. ideas, so that decision-making is improved
Knowledge management is essential. In the concerning strategic issues, competitors,
literature, various authors emphasise that the customers, distribution channels, products
value of knowledge management is to organise and services. Academic libraries are also
knowledge to enable people and the organisation learning organizations; if knowledge
itself to act as effectively as possible (Wiig as cited management occurs within these libraries, this
in Jantz, 2001, p. 34). Schwarzwalder (1999, can be of great value for creating and maintaining
p. 65) argues that knowledge management is a learning culture. Knowledge management also
valuable to help organisations to use what they benefits internal communication: while
already know, and to work smarter and more employees share their expertise with each other,
quickly and to make more money. Knowledge they simultaneously learn from each other to
management involves capturing the knowledge, fulfil the needs of their clients. The opinions of
wisdom, and added value experiences of the three academic libraries with regard to the
individuals within an organisation, making it easy value of knowledge management are presented in
to find again and in so doing, preserving it as an Table II.

Table I Definitions of knowledge management as provided by libraries A, B and C

Library A Library B Library C
A process of identifying, acquiring, The management of knowledge to make The collecting, storing, using and sharing
organising, using and sharing knowledge it easy for staff members to be able to of knowledge amongst employees to
with other people share and utilise knowledge amongst one enable them to make effective decisions
another within their job

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Table II Values of knowledge management in libraries A, B and C

Library A Library B Library C
Knowledge management transforms tacit Knowledge management provides the Knowledge management encourages
knowledge into explicit knowledge; opportunity for librarians to manage and knowledge sharing within the library
therefore makes it easier to be shared share organisational knowledge assets and helps to improve employee
within the library performance

All three academic libraries were aware of .

Consistency: the same explicit knowledge can
what knowledge management is as well as the be viewed by any employee. There is no need
value of knowledge management for the sharing to worry about several copies of outdated
and use of knowledge. This is proven by their information circulating around the office. The
definitions as provided in Table I and the values intranet will always be available as long as the
of knowledge management as provided in network is online (Stevens, 1996, p. 76;
Table II. Blackmore, 1997, p. 70; Mears, 1999, p. 27).
.
Interactivity: the emergence of Web
development tools such as Java and
Shockwave have enhanced the scope of
Definition and value of an intranet as a websites. One can create discussion groups,
knowledge management tool comprehension tests and other two-way
communication tools (Stevens, 1996, p. 76;
To persuade people to share knowledge, they have Curry and Stancich, 2000, p. 259; Kim, 2003,
to be motivated and provided with the necessary p. 66).
tools. If given the right tools and guidance, the .
Ease and low cost for update: with an intranet
individual will be able to make the knowledge one can easily and inexpensively updates
sharing process as efficient as possible. Intranets online publications. This can be done as
have emerged as one of today’s most effective ways frequently as needed (Stevens, 1996, p. 76;
of sharing information and knowledge in Mears, 1999, p. 27; Robinson, 1999, p. 97;
organisations. They act as the nervous and Curry and Stancich, 2000, p. 260; Yen and
circulatory systems for a company, supporting Chou, 2001, p. 82; Intracs, 2002, p. 1).
business processes as well as the flow of .
User-friendly interface: an intranet application
information (Kim, 2003, p. 66). Therefore, it is typically uses an interface that is conducive to
necessary to define an intranet and determine the point-and-click navigation. If employees can
value of an intranet as a knowledge management easily get to the information they seek, they
tool. are much more likely to look for that
An intranet has been defined by Parks (cited in information. An intranet is easy to learn
Yen and Chou, 2001, p. 80) as follows: “a private (Stevens, 1996, p. 76; Mears, 1999, p. 27;
computer network based on the data Curry and Stancich, 2000, p. 260; Intracs,
communication standards and technologies of the 2002, p. 1).
public Internet”. Curry and Stancich (2000, .
Centralisation: employees can access
p. 250) define an intranet as a private computing information from a central database at any
network, internal to an organisation, allowing time and in any number of geographical
access only to authorised users. Blackmore (1997, locations (Stevens, 1996, p. 72; Mears, 1999,
p. 67) describes an intranet as simply a means of p. 27).
exploiting Internet technologies within an . Simplicity in creation and maintenance:
organisation-based computer environment to aid an intranet can be created and maintained
the progression towards the seamless navigation of with a minimum of programming expertise.
both Internet-based and inhouse-generated Once the basic shell is in place, support
learning materials. staff at a specific department can easily
Summarising the above definitions, an intranet make most updates to information
can be defined as a network that uses Internet (Stevens, 1996, p. 76; Blackmore, 1997,
concepts and technologies within an organisation p. 70; Fichter, 2001, p. 74; Intracs, 2002,
in order to be accessed by employees to share p. 1).
knowledge. In addition, such knowledge is stored .
Keeping up with the workforce: as more and
electronically and access is usually controlled by more young employees enter the workforce,
password. keeping up with new technology will become
Intranets benefit organisations in many ways. increasingly important. Employees will
The main advantages include the following: become less willing to receive training
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information through slides or print outs make better and faster decisions with regard to
because they are used to being intellectually tasks. The intranet also contains the most current
stimulated through electronic media. information and knowledge, in a format that can
Employees can use the intranet to learn from be easily accessed, updated, expanded and
one another (Stevens, 1996, p. 76; Blackmore, searched. Intranets are a major step in the
1997, pp. 70-1; Greenberg, 1998, p. 2; transition towards a paperless office – employees
Fichter, 2001, p. 74). can access and move information electronically,
.
Flexibility: an intranet provides one access rather than through traditional paper
point to the organisation’s databases and bureaucracies, which are slow and expensive to
allows a remote worker to access the maintain.
knowledge available as if she/he is in his/her All three academic libraries in the study
own office (Stevens, 1996, p. 72; Robinson, indicated that they realised that the intranet
1999, p. 97; Intracs, 2002, p. 1; Choo and could be a valuable knowledge management tool.
Detlor, cited in Van Brakel, 2003). It served as a repository of explicit knowledge in
.
Improved services: the use of an intranet their libraries, and original documents could be
improves the way in which services are placed on the intranet, allowing the same
rendered (Fichter, 2001, p. 74). information to be viewed by any employee.
.
Faster speed: as long as the network is running, Additionally, library A mentioned that it valued
knowledge can be accessed easily and quickly the intranet because it facilitated
(Blackmore, 1997, p. 70; Curry and Stancich, communication within the organisation and
2000, p. 259; Fichter, 2001, p. 74; Yen and reduced the use of paper. Library C valued the
Chou, 2001, p. 82). intranet because it encouraged knowledge
.
Ease of use for accessing and publishing sharing, which helped to improve employee
information: it is easy to publish one’s research
performance.
by placing it on the intranet so that others can
But for an intranet to be of real value, the
access it (Mears, 1999, p. 27; Fichter, 2001,
contents should be relevant, accurate, informative
p. 74; Intracs, 2002, p. 1).
and up to date.
.
Timeouness: depending on the use of the
intranet and barring serious technical
problems, messages will be delivered on time
(Stevens, 1996, p. 75; Mears, 1999, p. 27; Yen
and Chou, 2001, p. 82). Contents of an intranet
.
Accuracy: information and data are as accurate
as supplied by people and will not change The content of an intranet is the engine that
between two requests. Information and data drives the intranet as a knowledge management
will remain accurate and remain the same for tool. To be of value to an organisation it must be
all users accessing it (Mears, 1999, p. 27; up to date and of interest to employees.
Fichter, 2001, p. 74). According to Kim (2003, p. 67) one of the
.
Save trees: the intranet is a step closer to a biggest mistakes made by companies is to design
paperless working environment, because the the site around what they want employees to
more the intranet progresses, the less paper know, rather than what employees find useful.
will be used (Mears, 1999, p. 27). The content of the intranet depends on the needs
.
Effectiveness and efficiency: using an of the employees and will therefore differ from
intranet it requires the organisation to organisation to organisation. However,
review and evaluate its working practices Robinson (1999, p. 96) stresses that an intranet
and this is a valuable exercise in itself should at least have discussion forums and
(Robinson, 1999, p. 97; Curry and bulletin boards, since intranets are excellent
Stancich, 2000, p. 259). media for sharing knowledge. He added that
intranet content needs to be managed carefully
From the above it is clear that an intranet, if used
so that it is:
optimally, has the capability to be a valuable .
always fresh and up to date; and
knowledge management tool for facilitating .
concentrates on sharing best practices and the
communication and knowledge sharing within
“how was it done factor”.
organisations such as academic libraries. Web-
based intranets provide a universal cross-platform Jussilainen (1999, p. 113) also mentioned that it is
network that allows working groups to vital that all information available on the intranet
communicate, share information, assign and track must be up to date and valid.
tasks, and manage complex projects. This leads to A number of authors (Jussilainen, 1999; Mears,
employees being more informed and being able to 1999; Robinson, 1999, p. 96; Parks, cited in Yen
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and Chou, 2001) agree that the following .

How does the content of the libraries intranet
information should be available on the intranet: compare with the content items identified in
.
News: all matters concerning staff. the literature?
.
Directories: a list of contact details of .
How relevant is the current content to the
personnel. users of these intranets?
.
Annual budget: annual budget of the enterprise .
How up to date is the content?
provided by the mother organisation.
Table III compares the content of the intranets of
.
Reports: feedback on activities, meetings,
the three libraries with the items listed in the
business and seminars.
literature.
.
Agreements: e.g. between the institution and
Although all three libraries said they were
vendors or partners.
satisfied with the content of their intranets it is
.
Archives: repository of information stored and
evident from Table III that the content of the
organised for easy retrieval.
intranets of all three libraries was very limited.
.
Policies: principles of action adopted or
proposed by the organisation. libraries A and B respectively had only seven and
.
Templates of letters: kept centrally and can be four of the fifteen sources identified in the
completed. Data can be sent through or a literature, while library C included only two of the
printout generated. identified sources on its intranet. None of the
.
Management information: messages from top libraries complied with the minimum
management can be made available on the requirements for an intranet as stated by
intranet. Robinson (1999, p. 96). As previously indicated,
.
Training materials: training materials and Robinson stresses that for the sharing of
policies can be linked using the actual knowledge the intranet should at least have
electronic documents. discussion forums and bulletin boards. Apart
.
Electronic magazines: refers to magazines from policies that were available on the intranets
which are available online or stored in of all three libraries, only the intranet of library A
electronic format. included items of value for effective decision
.
Forms: includes application forms for making, i.e. the budget and management
employment, experiential training, leave and information.
conference attendance. Notwithstanding the fact that the intranets of
.
Discussion forums: tools which facilitate libraries A and B did not cover the core
interactive communication via the intranet, information as identified in the literature,
allowing all users to contribute their additional information items unique to the
knowledge. activities of libraries were included on the intranets
.
Bulletin boards: an information source where of these two libraries (see Table IV). Library C
notices, announcement, brief news and basically only provided links to other sources such
advertisement are placed. as databases and electronic journals. The only
.
Points of interest: includes suggestions, other additional information found available on
comments, recommendations as well as any the intranet of library C was information about
matter of interest which employees need to
raise.
Table III Comparison of content of the intranets of the libraries A, B and C with items
The above-mentioned information items should listed in the literature
be included on the intranet because they provide Literature Library A Library B Library C
depth to the intranet. Furthermore, they can assist
Staff news U U U
in sharing knowledge. Valuable records can be Directories U U 7
stored in the archives and retrieved when needed. Budget U 7 7
Availability of such information can save time. It Reports 7 U 7
improves productivity because, for example, Agreements 7 7 7
employees need not leave their offices to look for, Archives 7 7 7
e.g. leave forms; they can easily download the Policies U U U
forms from their computers in their offices. Templates of letters 7 7 7
Employees are also given the opportunity to share Management information U 7 7
their point of interest with the rest of the Training materials U 7 7
colleagues. Electronic magazines 7 7 7
Based on the foregoing discussion, the following Forms U 7 7
factors will be taken into consideration in the Discussion forums 7 7 7
comparison of the contents of the intranets of the Bulletin board 7 7 7
three academic libraries in the study: Point of interest 7 7 7

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Table IV Additional information on the intranets of the three libraries

Library A Library B Library C
Links to databases Links to databases Links to databases
Information about projects Information about projects –
Manuals Manuals –
Roster for weekend shifts Procedures of performing certain tasks Information about library services
(e.g. interlending procedures)
Conference announcements Information about meetings (agenda and Links to electronic journals
minutes of previous meetings)
Information about physical environment Frequently asked questions and possible Link to online public access
answers catalogue (OPAC)
Health and security information Passwords to databases –
Information on social fun activities Link to GAELIC homepage –
Marketing news – –
Information technology matters – –
Names of editing team and their e-mail addresses – –

library services which was possibly of more use to improve communication and information
its users than to staff. dissemination.
According to the guest books of the intranets, In addition, it is indicated that a good
the staff of libraries A and B frequently visited the intranet should be interactive. This implies that
intranets while the staff of library C seldom visited staff members should be able to add their
its intranet even if they had been made aware of its knowledge to the intranet (Stevens, 1996, p. 76).
existence. All personnel linked to the intranet and authorised
During the interviews it was indicated that the
to do so, should be able to access it from any
content of the intranets of libraries A and B was
computer linked to the network (Mears, 1999,
updated weekly while the content of library C was
p. 27).
outdated because it had been updated over the
previous three months. As indicated, all three libraries in the study
From the analysis of the content, the updating utilised the intranet. However, the extent of use
frequency and the site visits by the staff, it can be differed. Library A employees utilised the intranet
derived that libraries A and B had a reasonably for the following purposes:
effective intranet in operation. The fact that the .
to obtain information about other library
intranets were visited frequently indicated that sections;
the content must be relevant to the basic needs of .
to get basic information such as a roster for
the staff. The relevancy was further reinforced by weekends, conferences announcements,
the regular updating of the information. Owing marketing news and training materials;
to the limited content and the lack of regular .
to gain access to databases via the intranet;
updating, the intranet of library C was not .
to get the latest news about staff;
attractive or relevant to the staff who were .
to download cataloguing and classification
supposed to use it. Therefore, it can be manuals;
concluded that library C did not realise the .
to clarify some policies, e.g. acquisitions
potential of the intranet as a knowledge
policy; and
management tool. .
to download application forms for conference
attendance.
In library B employees utilised the intranet to:
Utilisation of intranet by staff for sharing .
obtain daily information such as procedures
organisational knowledge on how to perform certain tasks (e.g.
how to register students from other
An intranet can be used for many purposes
institutions);
and in many ways depending on the type of
library. Weiner (1999, p. 66) argues that
.
access agendas and minutes of the meetings;
libraries use an intranet for the following
.
download manuals (e.g. cataloguing
purposes: to provide communication support manuals);
and proprietary information for use by the .
get passwords of different databases; and
internal library community. Knight (2002, p. 1) .
retrieve annual reports on certain aspects (e.g.
states that an intranet is used by libraries to financial report).
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As previously mentioned, staff of library C employees. Comparing the contents and the
seldom made use of the intranet. When it was utilisation of the intranets of libraries A, B and C
used, the sole purpose was to access databases with the suggested content in the literature, it is
and electronic journals and to obtain the library clear that there is much room for improvement in
policy. all three libraries. Considering the suggested
From the above it is clear that the use of the content, the advantages of the intranet as well as
intranets in libraries A, B and C correlated with the the interest and needs of the users, the intranet in
types of information items available on these academic libraries can be developed as a valuable
intranets. These items encourage or limit the use of tool for knowledge management and the sharing of
the intranets. It can therefore be concluded that if knowledge.
the contents of an intranet can be brought in line
with the content identified in the literature, an
organisations’s intranet will be used more
intensively.
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About the authors

Hamilton Mphidi is an Information Specialist in the Academic Information Service of the University of
Pretoria, South Africa. He obtained a Library and Information Science degree and an honours degree in
Library and Information Science from the University of Pretoria in 1999 and 2000 respectively. He is
currently completing a Master’s degree in Information Science at the University of Pretoria. His fields of
interests are knowledge management, intranets in academic libraries and staff development training of
library and information professionals. He can be contacted at: [email protected]
Retha Snyman lectures and undertakes research within the Department of Information Science at the
University of Pretoria, South Africa. She obtained a Master’s degree in Information Science and a DLitt
et Phil from the Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa. She gained many years of experience during her
engagements with various information service organisations and academic institutions. She is responsible
for the Information and Knowledge Management component of the M.IS (Information Science) (course
work) degree as well as the M.IT degree of the School of Information Technology at the University of
Pretoria. She is also the study leader of a number of Master’s and doctoral students. She has presented
papers at local and international conferences and she is also the author or co-author of various journal
articles. She is at present involved in a number of research projects, inter alia strategies for information
and knowledge management and the employment market for information and knowledge managers in
South Africa. She can be contacted at: [email protected] or [email protected]

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