Knowledge Management tools for forest management DSS's

Description of potential KM tools

Agents, Avatar (virtual)

• Description: An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, or a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities. An avatar is an image that a user chooses to represent himself in virtual communities, places of aggregation, discussion or online plays. The word, in Sanskrit and native of the Hindu tradition, means “incarnation”, exactly represents the assumption of a physical god’s body. In the Internet language, an Avatar is “the personage” that a real person chooses to appear to others people in the virtual world. This image, which may vary in theme and size (usually determined in advance by the regulations of virtual communities), can depict a fictional character (e.g. a cartoon, a comic), the reality (for example. vocalist or favourite actor), or even the most varied subjects, such as comic strips, text, and more. The place of greater use of avatars are the forums, instant messaging, and online role-playing games where it is customary to create an alter ego. Some sites asked to set up an avatar inspired by a particular theme to make it uniform to use in order to improve the sense of belonging to the virtual community. For example, the site of the Village of Ofelon requires an avatar of medieval inspiration, along with a nickname in the subject, tends to create a setting of knights of the Middle Ages.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: Horst Förster in Zukunftswald, Corpo Forestale dello Stato and Second Life

Best practices and lessons learned

• Description: Typically present the situation, the options, choices taken, and the results for a typical decision problem. Best practices are those attributes ( e.g., structures, disciplines, processes, controls, metrics, tools, and staffing qualifications) demonstrated to be effective guidelines for the successful management of diverse programs and projects. Lessons learned are experiences acquired in the execution of programs and projects which can provided value-added direction to the formulation and execution of future development and operational initiatives. They are widely used in natural resource management and can be extensively found on the internet. "Story telling" allow people to gain more understanding and have greater recall then they do from written reports. Stories can be used to capture lectures on a particular topic, to capture after action reports, to record difficult to codify tacit knowledge, and for many other purposes.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: FAO Best practices - Forest management and conservation, American National Forest Foundation, Compendium of Best Management Practices for Canadian Urban Forests, Best Management Practices - Forest Stewardship Guidelines for Water Quality

Community of practice

• Description: Support groups of individuals with similar work responsibilities but who are not part of a formally designated work team. Many communities of practice communicate through a web-based system.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: A COP on Forest Policy - Forest Practice , Community of Practice for Forest Observations, Community of Practice on Forest Financing in Latin America

Content management system (scientific)

• Description: Collects knowledge in some kind of web-based content management system. First, the knowledge has to be found, organized, synthesized, reviewed for quality, and uploaded for availability. Second, the knowledge content has to be updated and maintained so it keeps its currency. Software systems exist that support both of these functions.

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Forest Encyclopedia Network

Database Management Systems

• Description: A common way to organize original source material in a database structure. It is irrelevant whether the data is numeric or graphic or computer files. Web-based methods have been developed to manage database online. Data mining techniques are useful in retrieving information from huge databases – several techniques are developed in order to find appropriate results and quick solutions with efficient search algorithms.

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Forest Resource Databases hosted by EFI

Expert System (or Knowledge-based system)

• Description: Expert systems are designed in such a way that a rulebase and an inference engine are interlinked to simulate the reasoning process that a human expert pursues in analyzing a problem and arriving at a conclusion. In these systems a vast amount of knowledge is stored in the knowledge base. The knowledge base could consist of "if then" statements that resemble the sequence of mental steps that are involved in the human reasoning process.

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Expert system on Douglas-fir Cone and Seed Insects ; NetWeaver

Frequently asked questions

• Description: In the course of performing a job, people naturally identify questions that their coworkers or their clients ask repeatedly. It is worthwhile to document and develop useful and standardized answers for these types of repetitive questions. Web-based systems also exist that specialize in the management of these questions (e.g., knowledge management systems, below).

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: FAQ on Phytophthora kernoviae a fungus-like pathogen

Knowledge management systems

• Description: Network- or web-based systems for the entry, organization, storage, and sharing of knowledge in some knowledge domain.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: phpkb professional ; KnowledgeBuilder ; Knowledge Manager ; Younicycle

Knowledge map (cognitive maps, mind maps)

• Description: Establish a classification scheme called a taxonomy of knowledge, provide a frame of reference for many knowledge management products, and serve as a critical first step for identifying available knowledge. The more sophisticated versions of tools in this category include ontology editors.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Mind Manager ; Decision Explorer ; Compendium ; FreeMind ; Wikka Software ; VUE ; XMind; TopBraid Composer ; Protege

Online Scientific Journals

• Description: Managing and making accessible published books and scientific journal articles has long been the province of science libraries. These services are also available on the internet either free of charge. More and more scientific journals have placed all or part of the content of their original research articles online. Search engines allow to find relevant articles and the number of citations refering to them.

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: SCOPUS ; SCIRUS ;

Simulation systems more

• Description: Are a popular way to organize specific problem solving knowledge and provide precise, quantitative answers to guide natural resource managers. Most such models have not yet been converted to execute over the internet, however, many simulation models can be downloaded from the internet and then executed on a stand-alone computer.

• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Stella; Simulating Patterns and Processes at Landscape Scales (SIMPPLLE)

Yellow-page directories

• Description: Aid in finding hard-to-access tacit knowledge resources by providing access to experts. They also organize existing web sites and serve up a variety of explicit knowledge assets in understandable ways.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Facebook; XING

Wiki

• Description: Free-content information collaboratories allow to create and distribute free information content, e.g., encyclopedias, wiki. Articles are edited by volunteers and are subject to change by nearly anyone. They cover a wide range of topics, but lack the authority of traditional materials and lack the chance of a quality control regarding the content.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: Wikipedia

Web portal

• Description: Provide links to many other sites that can either be accessed directly or can be found by following an organized sequence of related categories. The provider of a web portal is responsible for structuring and filtering of web-addresses relating to a special theme.
• Other definitions: Search the web
• Examples: The Web Portal of the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Spatial Decision Support Knowledge Portal

other tools

• Description:

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: [http:// ]

Classification of potential KM tools

Criteria to classify KM tools

KM approaches for Problem identification

• Allow a documentation in order to transfer knowledge to next generation
• encourage decision makers to discover new problems and opportunities by exposing themselves to new information, situations, issues, and ideas
• help decision makers in recognizing upcoming problems for which solutions have been developed previously

KM approaches for Problem structuring / modelling

• allow to actively create new knowledge when faced with a new problem and to develop novel solutions
• Allow to identify expert knowledge, facts and experiences in relation to decision problem
• Allow to codify available knowledge for machine / computer
• allow to reduce complexity
• support the engagement/involvement of experts
• allow to combine various forms of information (qualitative / quantitative)

KM approaches for Problem solving / decision making

• Allow to capture and retain knowledge, making it available to decision makers who are seeking solutions from previously solved problems
• facilitate decisions that are reproducable
• facilitate a rationale decision making process
• improve decision making ability
• increase productivity of decision maker (within cognitive, time and economic limits - effective and efficient decisions)
• support decision-making phases
  • development (e.g. identify or analyze alternatives)
  • selection (e.g. advice about which alternative to choose)

Criteria according to the decision problem

• Decision situation (unilateral, collegial, participatory)
• Level of planning (operational, tactical, strategic planning)
• Challenges / key problems in forestry domain?
• Which goods and services are supported?

Criteria according to stakeholders / users /organisations

• allow participation (active / passive)
• Technical skills of users required
• Level of acceptance of users in terms of usability, reliability, easyness,…
• Kind of introduction of the tool to users
• Role of stakeholder within the process (expert, decision maker, public)
• Who owns the knowledge in organizations? How to make use of the knowledge available? Who coordinates knowledge?
• Type of organization (public bodies, forest enterprises,…)
• To whom give access to information / knowledge (skill, commercial , privacy)
• Data mining of private enterprises (CRM?) of relevance

Criteria for development issues - technical aspects

• Allows to generate interfaces between tools/techniques
• Allows a definition of interfaces between methods and models
• Rules for selecting information (in hierarchical decision making processes, robustness, reliability, …)
• allows to be adapted to new challenges, problems are they flexible enough?

Classification of KM tools according to problem solving

Gray's classification ^[1] recognizes different types of managing knowledge with regards action motivations in two different types of problems. The motivation can either be problem identification or problem solving, and the problem can be either unique/new or previously solved. Combining these in 2*2 matrix shows us four types of KM: (1) Discovering new issues, (2) Creating knowledge, (3) Acquiring knowledge, and (4) Raising awareness. Shifting between these ascendingly can be seen as (a) identifying, (b) preserving/storing, and (c) distributing/transferring knowledge (see Fig. 1 below).

Fig. 1. Knowledge management types within decision problems after Gray (2003).

Table for the Classification of KM tools

Tool	Classification 1	Classification 2
Knowledge maps
Databases
Expert systems
Free-content information collaboratories
Web portals
Electronic yellow-page directories
Communities of practice
Frequently asked questions
Scientific content management sites
Online scientific journals
Library services
Best practices and lessons learned
Lectures and story telling
Apprenticeship programs
Web-based learning
Simulation models

Other options to classify...

References