Knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized as a valuable resource. Given its importance it is ... more Knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized as a valuable resource. Given its importance it is surprising that expert systems technology has not become a more common means of utilizing knowledge. In this chapter we review some of the history of expert systems, the shortcomings of first generation expert systems, current approaches and future decisions. In particular we consider a knowledge acquisition and representation technique known as Ripple Down Rules (RDR) that avoids many of the limitations of earlier systems by providing a simple, user-driven knowledge acquisition approach based on the combined use of rules and cases and which support online validation and easy maintenance. RDR has found particular commercial success as a clinical decision support system and we review what features of RDR make it so suited to this domain.
With the emergence of the Web 2.0 phenomena, technology-assisted social networking has become the... more With the emergence of the Web 2.0 phenomena, technology-assisted social networking has become the norm. The potential of social software for collaborative learning purposes is clear, but as yet there is little evidence of realisation of the benefits. In this paper we consider Information and Communication Technology student attitudes to collaboration and via two case studies the extent to which they exploit the use of wikis for group collaboration. Even when directed to use a particular wiki designed for the type of project they are involved with, we found that groups utilized the wiki in different ways according to the affordances ascribed to the wiki. We propose that the integration of activity theory with an affordances perspective may lead to improved technology, specifically Web 2.0, assisted collaboration.
PurposeA problem for many organisations today is what is referred to as the “knowing‐doing gap” o... more PurposeA problem for many organisations today is what is referred to as the “knowing‐doing gap” or the difference between possessing the knowledge and the actual application of it. This paper aims to explore the perception that differences exist with regard to soft or tacit knowledge‐knowing and utilisation in the IT workplace, but at the level of gender and ethnic‐culture specifically. Through a statistical examination of electronic survey results from two ICT organisations in Australia, the study explores the validity of such claims.Design/methodology/approachContinuing from previous grounded theory research, a series of workplace scenarios testing for such knowledge utilisation were created. After trialling the initial scenarios on a pilot population, they were further refined and made part of an online survey questionnaire. Some 119 employees of two Australian ICT organisations rated how they would deal with soft knowledge situations both in principle and in practice. The sample...
Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, 2003
The acquisition and application of knowledge, in particular tacit knowledge (TK), are seen as dec... more The acquisition and application of knowledge, in particular tacit knowledge (TK), are seen as decisive competitive factors in the knowledge society of the twenty-first century. Despite much talk about the importance of knowledge transfer, little research shows how to identify and measure TK, less research addresses how to transfer TK between individuals and even fewer of these approaches offer any technology that can assist with transfer. This paper does not address the issues of identification and measurement of TK. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: describe a knowledge acquisition and representation technique, known as Ripple Down Rules (RDR), which can be used to capture knowledge, explicit and tacit, in context from those already identified as experts and to describe a set-theoretical technique, known as formal concept analysis (FCA) to assist transfer of the RDR knowledge to another human. Unlike most knowledge acquisition approaches, the RDR knowledge acquisition techniqu...
Knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized as a valuable resource. Given its importance it is ... more Knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized as a valuable resource. Given its importance it is surprising that expert systems technology has not become a more common means of utilizing knowledge. In this chapter we review some of the history of expert systems, the shortcomings of first generation expert systems, current approaches and future decisions. In particular we consider a knowledge acquisition and representation technique known as Ripple Down Rules (RDR) that avoids many of the limitations of earlier systems by providing a simple, user-driven knowledge acquisition approach based on the combined use of rules and cases and which support online validation and easy maintenance. RDR has found particular commercial success as a clinical decision support system and we review what features of RDR make it so suited to this domain.
With the emergence of the Web 2.0 phenomena, technology-assisted social networking has become the... more With the emergence of the Web 2.0 phenomena, technology-assisted social networking has become the norm. The potential of social software for collaborative learning purposes is clear, but as yet there is little evidence of realisation of the benefits. In this paper we consider Information and Communication Technology student attitudes to collaboration and via two case studies the extent to which they exploit the use of wikis for group collaboration. Even when directed to use a particular wiki designed for the type of project they are involved with, we found that groups utilized the wiki in different ways according to the affordances ascribed to the wiki. We propose that the integration of activity theory with an affordances perspective may lead to improved technology, specifically Web 2.0, assisted collaboration.
PurposeA problem for many organisations today is what is referred to as the “knowing‐doing gap” o... more PurposeA problem for many organisations today is what is referred to as the “knowing‐doing gap” or the difference between possessing the knowledge and the actual application of it. This paper aims to explore the perception that differences exist with regard to soft or tacit knowledge‐knowing and utilisation in the IT workplace, but at the level of gender and ethnic‐culture specifically. Through a statistical examination of electronic survey results from two ICT organisations in Australia, the study explores the validity of such claims.Design/methodology/approachContinuing from previous grounded theory research, a series of workplace scenarios testing for such knowledge utilisation were created. After trialling the initial scenarios on a pilot population, they were further refined and made part of an online survey questionnaire. Some 119 employees of two Australian ICT organisations rated how they would deal with soft knowledge situations both in principle and in practice. The sample...
Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, 2003
The acquisition and application of knowledge, in particular tacit knowledge (TK), are seen as dec... more The acquisition and application of knowledge, in particular tacit knowledge (TK), are seen as decisive competitive factors in the knowledge society of the twenty-first century. Despite much talk about the importance of knowledge transfer, little research shows how to identify and measure TK, less research addresses how to transfer TK between individuals and even fewer of these approaches offer any technology that can assist with transfer. This paper does not address the issues of identification and measurement of TK. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: describe a knowledge acquisition and representation technique, known as Ripple Down Rules (RDR), which can be used to capture knowledge, explicit and tacit, in context from those already identified as experts and to describe a set-theoretical technique, known as formal concept analysis (FCA) to assist transfer of the RDR knowledge to another human. Unlike most knowledge acquisition approaches, the RDR knowledge acquisition techniqu...
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Papers by D. Richards