Utilizing Human Categorisation Ability for Knowledge Management

In 1998 and the years following, the Google search engine took the world wide web by storm, providing high-quality search results that were clearly superior to other commercial search engines at the time (Brin and Page, 1998). The algorithm that provided these high-quality search results relied on one simple assumption: “A hyperlink from page A to page B is a recommendation of page B by the author of page A” (Henziger, 2001). Although this assumption is not necessarily true in every case, the quality of results produced has forged Google’s acclaim as a household name. To “Google it” has become synonymous with searching the web. Interestingly, the high quality search results were not the result of employing sophisticated data-mining techniques, nor did they depend on web authors entering quality metadata for their pages. The assumption was an observation of how humans interacted with an already existing system, namely the world-wide-web. In IT systems used in a knowledge management (KM) context, it is often not possible to make the same assumption regarding hyperlinks, since there may not be any hyperlinks used in the sytem at all. It is possible, however, to observe the way humans interact with the system. The proposed research will entail observing human interactions with IT systems commonly used in KM contexts, such as Lessons Learned systems or Experience Management systems. This will be done with a view to improving the quality of searches made on these repositories. Of particular interest is how human beings categorise what they know in their own minds, and whether this can be utilized more effectively in the design of such systems. The aim is to improve the way information is organised, making it more accessible and promoting knowledge sharing. Take, for example, a lessons learned system used by photocopier repair technicians. When a technician solves a particularly difficult issue with a photocopier, they make an entry into the system explaining the problem, its symptoms, and steps taken to solve it. This entry, along with others, is included in a report to be discussed with other technicians in their monthly meeting. The entry is also made available to product design engineers, so that design flaws are not perpetuated through subsequent photocopier models. When making a repair, the technician also has the ablitity to search through previously made entries to see if other technicians have encountered a similar problem. When a technician makes an entry into this system, there is a high probability that they have some idea of how it relates to other entries that they have made previously. The aim of