Disseminating Knowledge Products

Abstract

{Excerpt} The production of knowledge, much of which represents invaluable intellectual capital, lies at the heart of modern organizations. However, the value of any knowledge product hangs on its effective dissemination to—present and future—audiences: without outreach the efforts of knowledge workers are wasted. For this reason, dissemination is a core responsibility of any organization tasked with generating and sharing knowledge products, especially of new kinds of unique (and uniquely valuable) content that are as usable and accessible as possible. Dissemination of knowledge is just as important as its production. At the simplest level, dissemination is best described as the delivering and receiving of a message, the engagement of an individual in a process, or the transfer of a process or product. It is also helpful to think about dissemination in three broadly different ways, viz., dissemination for awareness, for understanding, and for action. Indeed, effective dissemination of a knowledge product will most likely require that it satisfy all three in turn: utilization is the goal.