7.2  What are knowledge assets and knowledge activities?

Knowledge assets can be classified into two basic types:

•  explicit knowledge, which has been physically embodied or recorded in a document, image or some other medium; and

•  tacit knowledge, which resides in a person's mind and may include aspects of culture or 'ways of doing things'.

Knowledge assets include:

•  electronic documents such as word documents, spreadsheets, correspondence, presentations;

•  emails;

•  hard copy records such as signed project contracts, submissions, briefings and correspondence;

•  web-based information;

•  corporate memory (the sum of individual memory and expertise relevant to the project); and

•  records of conversations, meetings etc.

Knowledge activities involve: 

•  discovering, creating and receiving knowledge;

•  capturing and storing knowledge;

•  presenting, distributing and sharing knowledge; and

•  reviewing, maintaining and disposing of knowledge.