Developing skills for the information services

workforce in the knowledge economy: a report

on the outcomes of eight scenario-planning
workshops (LIC Research Report 122).
by Val Skelton and Angela Abell.

2001, London and New York: TFPL, 149pp, £50, ISBN 1

87088 989 4, ISSN 1466 2949.
‘Knowledge’ has become widely accepted as a business
asset. Such an asset needs organising. And the ‘organizers’
require training. Yet, little is said as to how knowledge
organizers/managers should be trained – and by whom?

For example, are their needs significantly different from

those required by library and information managers?

A 1999 study revealed that while high-quality information

management is crucial for an effective knowledgemanagement
(KM) strategy, information workers are not yet
a key element of KM teams (TFPL, 1999). The project had
been run by TFPL, a specialist training and consultancy
organization for the information and knowledge market. Its
findings encouraged the (British) Information Services
National Training Organisation (ISNTO) to explore further
the skills and resources needed for effective KM policies.
TFPL were commissioned to carry out a second-stage project.
This report is the result.

The new study examined eight, largely public sector,

organizations, selected for their active interest in managing
knowledge and information. One-day scenario-planning
workshops were run, with separate reports written on each.

These workshops had three main aims: to visualise what the

organizations might look like in 2006, to predict information
flows and needs and to suggest likely requirements for specialist
information support. The ideas were consolidated
and the general conclusions discussed at regional seminars
with senior information services sector representatives.

The focus of this project was to be on both ‘professionals’,

and the broad sections of workers, qualified or
not, who might find themselves enlisted in information
related roles. There were to be five main outcomes from the
research:
• identification of possible new organizational structures;
• assessment of roles staff might play in these structures;
• evaluation and development of new information services
structures;
• identification of skills and competencies;
• determination of future educational, development and
training needs.

The project was also designed to assist individual

career planning and management, as well as helping senior
management understand the need for information management
strategies. Apractical outcome was a skills toolkit
intended to form the basis of a self-managed development
tool for information services workers (initially, in ISNTO member
organizations).

The study concluded that scenario planning appears

an effective mechanism for enabling groups to think radically
about the future. Recommendations cover a range of
topics:

i) organizational change: much has been made of the

new structures to support the knowledge economies, yet less
thought has been given to the risk of a workforce being
unable to cope with change. The need for new types of
‘organizational information literacy’ is raised;
ii) information and knowledge services will move into
strategic, and increasingly vital, positions by providing core
functions, becoming more involved in the business process
and driving knowledge and information strategies;
iii) information services will need to be both flexible and
responsive: capable of working within dispersed teams,
forming information networks and communities both within
their own organizations as well as with business partners;
iv) skills and attributes of the future information services
worker: ‘a Jack (or Jill) of all trades and a master of one’
is needed. This suggests someone who can be ‘strategic
with broad shoulders’ (i.e. have the ability to work at a
higher, more strategic level of the organization, using a
wide range of business skills);
v) ‘The Skills Toolkit’. One outcome was the creation
of a prototype for helping employers, information managers
and their staff understand the skills needed to improve
information flow within their organizations. The toolkit is
a diagnostic aid and a guide to the skills required for
defined roles, for skills assessment and for routes to developing
those skills.

The report itself is divided into five sections covering

the project’s background, methods and participants; the
scenarios arising from the workshops; future scenarios (as
seen by participants); the role of information services and
an outline of the toolkit’s functions and use. The second half
of the report contains a copy of the prototype toolkit (also
available separately as a PDF file). This includes an extensive
reading list. At the end of the report is a set of
Appendices covering a description of the ISNTO, a copy of
the documentation sent out to scenario-workshop delegates,
a list of the ‘external drivers for change’ identified at
the workshops and a copy of the workshop’s programme
and slides (the Appendices are lettered ‘H’ to ‘L’, with an
intriguing note that A-G are available to ISNTO Board
Members only!).

The ideas behind this project are excellent. Astudy of

this nature is much needed for there are many unanswered
questions surrounding the concept of knowledge management.
I therefore read this report with great interest in the
hope that it might provide helpful definitions and, as both
TFPL and the ISNTO were involved, give guidance on
future directions for training. I hoped, too, that the toolkit
might prove useful as a template for trainers in developing
countries.

So, what did I find?

My first reactions amounted to niggles – but it is from

minor irritations that big disappointments grow. For example,
one of the recommendations was that the prototype
tool-kit should be available on both the ISNTO and TFPL
web sites, but I could find it on neither. Then there was the
report itself. Its dreary orange cover (bearing the title:
Scenarios for the knowledge economy – strategic information
skills, rather different from that on the title page) is attached
to a completely blank spine. This is trivial. But, there are two
ways of making information disappear: putting it on a
poorly publicised web site or publishing it in a book with
no spine lettering, so that it becomes invisible on a shelf,
whispering: “I am unimportant!”

To me, a report of this nature (especially one from

such communication-oriented organizations) should be
clear and logical. I found the style turgid and difficult to follow:
converting sections of the text into a summary for
this review became a demanding exercise and, in places, it
was hard to distinguish poor writing from possible typographical
errors.

On a substantive level, the authors have done an

excellent job of extracting and organising comments from
all the project’s participants and a wide range of ideas is presented.
However, there are few answers to ‘why’- and ‘if’-
type questions. The level of discussion is disappointing: the
report suffers from not being sociologically informed.
Neither is there much sign of psychological analysis – yet
knowledge management is a social activity dependent on
mental states. Similarly, both ethical issues and statements
by leading writers are presented, but, again, without analysis
or comment.

Unfortunately, after reading this report I am no wiser

as to the role of training in KM.

REFERENCE
TFPL (1999) Skills for knowledge management: building a knowledge
economy. London and New York

Ralph Adam
The City University