Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries UNESCO National Commissions as Knowledge Brokers Training Workshop for Documentalists of National Commissions of the Caribbean Castries, St. Lucia, 1-3 December 2004 Axel Plathe UNESCO, Information Society Divisionn

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries What is a Knowledge Broker? “An intermediary that links the people who use knowledge and those who create it”

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Key functions of Natcoms Constitution of UNESCO (Article VII)/ Charter of National Commissions

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Information functions Natcom > Country (internal “clients”) Inform national agencies & institutions of GC/Ex Board conclusions & recommendations Disseminate findings of studies and reports Translate, adapt and disseminate UNESCO publications/documents in national languages Arouse public interest in UNESCO Disseminate information on UNESCO (mass media and the general public) Provide a channel for disseminating information obtained from other countries

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Natcoms > Secretariat Inform the Secretariat on national requirements and priorities Make their views known when surveys or inquiries are carried out Provide knowledge on national expertise (e.g. consultants) Information functions

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Information channels National Commission Other Natcoms Other IGOs & NGOs UNESCO (HQ & Field) Government & institutions State agencies and services, professional and other associations, universities and other centres of research and education, and other institutions concerned with education, the sciences, culture and information Mass media Broad Public NationalInternational

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Information flows National Commissions Secretariat (HQ & field) Information creators Information users Information user Information creators

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Types of information Documents Databases Directories Newsletter Expertise in given areas –Institutional (e.g. universities) –Individual (e.g. consultants, experts) Best practices Your suggestions

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Tools Online – lists –Blogs –Websites –Content management systems (CMS) Your suggestions A weblog, or simply a blog, is a web application which contains periodic, reverse chronologically ordered posts on a common webpage. Such a Web site would typically be accessible to any Internet user.

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Tools Off-line –Paper publications (e.g.montly/yearly reports) –Documentation centres & libraries –Meetings – Your suggestions

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Information resources Needs Your suggestions UNESDOC/ UNESBIB –News services (on/off line) – –UNESCO official documents –UNESCO publications

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Needs Human capacities –«Information literacy» –Knowledge manager expertise –Documentalist/librarian expertise –Web expertise – Your suggestions?

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Needs Technical tools –CDS/ISIS –UNESCO Thesaurus –Internet connection – tools –CMS (Master website for Natcoms) – Your suggestions

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Information or Knowledge? Information Knowledge Information can be considered as a message. It typically has a sender and a receiver. Information is the sort of stuff that can, at least potentially, be saved onto a computer. Data is a type of information that is structured, but has not been interpreted. Knowledge might be described as information that has a use or purpose. Whereas information can be placed onto a computer, knowledge exists in the heads of people. Knowledge is information to which an intent has been attached.

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Knowledge Management Seeks to make the best use of the knowledge that is available to an organization Creates new knowledge in the process "Knowledge Management caters to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival, and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change.... Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings.“

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries Organizational process Data and information processing capacity of IT Creative and innovative capacity of human beings Knowledge Management Synergistic combination Natcoms ?

Natcoms as Knowledge Brokers Castries