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Continuity of Knowledge Web Site Up and
Running
By Matthew Early Wright
As SLAC moves into its fifth decade of operation, people who have been
here since the beginning are nearing retirement age. When they leave,
they will take a career’s worth of accumulated knowledge with them. (See
New Committee, TIP, March 7, 2003.)
The Human Resources Department and the Communications Office have
developed a strategy to help Laboratory staff preserve this information
for posterity. Initially a focal point topic for the SLAC Suggestion
System (Fall 2002), this effort is based on recommendations of a working
group including Linda Ahlf (HR), Dick Blankenbecler (TP), Neil Calder
(COM), Janice Dabney (TD), Jean Deken (TIS), Lee Lyon (HR), Kim Sutton (TIS)
and Herman Winick (SSRL).
Retaining Lab’s Legacy
The new Continuity of Knowledge Web site provides tools for evaluating
your Lab’s documentation needs or implementing a strategy for cross-training
when bringing new hires into your group.
“An original system may be well documented, but changes to it might not
be,” said Lyon, Human Resources Director. “We want to help record
knowledge that enhances efficiency, productivity and legacy for the Lab
in the future.”
Unlike scientific discoveries, which are well documented in journals,
ground-level technical details are not always so carefully recorded. The
Web site presents suggestions to get ideas down on paper, or on other
media (e.g., producing video recorded technical documentaries as
training materials). Outside resources include knowledge
management journal articles to help managers blueprint a continuity plan
for their areas.
Lyon stressed that participation in the initiative is not mandatory. The
program is designed to make evaluating your needs and preserving
information as easy and productive as possible.
For more information, see:
http://www-group.slac.stanford.edu/com/knowledge/
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