
Introducing knowledge management into archival work
Introduction
Archival work in organisations or corporations is usually seen as marginalized, tedious and insignificant, however, as the primitive records of individuals or organisations in social practices, archives often play a critical role in preserving the whole country’s cultural heritage. With the help of archives, you can explicitly trace the development period of an organisation, providing essential insights into its past and guiding its future.
Through introducing knowledge management into archival work, archives can be utilized in a more organized and connected way, reducing repetitive work and minimizing unnecessary duplication, which benefits decision-making and optimizing procedures. However, there exist several obstacles to be tackled.
Why archival work requires knowledge management
To unleash the full potential of archives
Although many organisations have built their own electronic archival systems, to some extent, the systems are the basic foundations of knowledge repository, the systems are often convenient for respective business utilization including collection, classification, storage and retrieval. But they fail to proceed the whole range of knowledge management. As a result, the full potential of archives is not exerted. By integrating knowledge management practices, archives can evolve from simple archival systems into powerful knowledge repositories that contribute to strategic decision-making, innovation, and continuous learning within organisations.
To proceed to the knowledge level
Archives are a type of information, in the DIKW (data-information-knowledge-wisdom) hierarchy1, the ultimate goal is to move from basic data to the higher level. By introducing knowledge management into archival works, organisations can transform archived information into knowledge, allowing for more insightful actions.
To promote knowledge sharing
Considering factors such as confidential records and information leaks, archives often operate in their own systems, which leads to a lack of sharing. Knowledge management encourages a more collaborative approach, enabling archivists to access, share, and learn from archived information that may have previously been inaccessible or underused.
Obstacles to implementing knowledge management in archival work
Although knowledge management offers significant advantages, during the practical process of introduction, there are quite a few obstacles to overcome. Organisations ought to tackle these obstacles to achieve a better integration of both sides.
The difficulty to transit tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is based on one’s past experiences, thinking and skills, often in the form of intuitions and insights, this kind of knowledge can’t be taught and articulated easily. In practical archives work, tacit knowledge is the archivist’s understanding of specific situations, operational processes, or judgments that have been accumulated over a long period but are difficult to convey in text or other forms.
For instance, when mining the contents of oral archives, there are numerous materials to be handled, and some oral archives may also include accents, fresh archivists may feel overwhelmed by the volume and not know where to begin. While experienced archivists with tacit knowledge are familiar with the structure of these records and have developed their own set of skills. They have an intuitive sense of the textual content of the archives, the historical context, relevant policies, and the internal operational processes of the organisation. However, the skills are rooted in their brains, making it difficult to teach and transfer.

Knowledge loss over time
Knowledge attrition through retirements, resignations, dismissals or deaths culminates in the loss of valuable tacit and explicit knowledge2. The loss of knowledge in archival work is also more noticeable. With the departure of experienced archivists, it is difficult to pass on tacit knowledge, new archivists do not have practical knowledge of archival work at the beginning and need to spend a lot of time learning, leading to inefficiencies and negatively affecting the integrity of the archival collection. Without effective knowledge management strategies to retain and transfer knowledge, organisations risk losing vital insights that can take years to rebuild.
Integration of scattered management systems
There are various types of archives, electronic archive systems can usually only handle archived structured data such as text records, and the storage of some unstructured archives such as audio and images are a problem. What’s more, organisations tend to build their systems to meet their specific needs, resulting in the scattering of systems. Considering some confidential files and the current management situations, some organisations may not be willing to share with others or may not have the political right to integration. This fragmentation complicates the process of integrating knowledge management.
Effective strategies to integrate knowledge management into archival work
To cope with these obstacles and promote the integration of knowledge management into archival work, several strategies as follows can be adopted.
Establish the knowledge management consciousness
One of the key strategies is to nurture the knowledge management consciousness. Archivists should be informed of the vital importance of introducing knowledge management into archival work, and encouraged to participate in knowledge sharing as much as possible, for example, organisations can hold on seminars to invite archivists to share their feelings in the work. Additionally, some training projects can be held on a regular basis. Organisations should also create relevant incentives, ensuring that archivists are fully involved in the management process and both tacit and explicit knowledge is preserved and transferred through the organisation.
Build comprehensive knowledge repositories
Organisations ought to build comprehensive knowledge repositories based on archival systems, which integrate structured and unstructured data with the same standards, making it convenient for subsequent retrieval and exploitation. What’s more, knowledge transfer should be encouraged between organisations, which is beneficial to access valuable insights from archives and thus promote the development of the entire archives industry. To some extent, it avoids knowledge loss.
Leverage advanced technologies
Technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning, and semantic analysis can significantly enhance knowledge management in archival work. These technologies can transform unstructured data into retrievable and utilizable knowledge points.
For instance, by using government archives ontology, it not only describes the concepts in the terminology of government archives, but also implements the semantics of government archival resources, provides support for information retrieval, and discovers new knowledge through reasoning based on the existing links between government archival resources3.
Conclusion
The integration of knowledge management into archival work offers substantial opportunities to improve the accessibility, efficiency, and utilization of archives. However, organisations must address obstacles such as tacit knowledge retention, knowledge loss, and fragmented systems. By fostering a knowledge management consciousness, building comprehensive knowledge repositories, and adopting advanced technologies, organisations can unlock the full potential of their archival resources. This not only preserves valuable knowledge for future generations but also supports informed decision-making and strategic growth. Our lecturer Rajesh Dhillon also suggests that introducing strategies like mentorship programs or After Action Reviews (AARs) could help to better transfer knowledge from senior archivists to new employees.
Article source: Adapted from Introducing Knowledge Management into Archival Work, prepared as part of the requirements for completion of course KM6304 Knowledge Management Strategies and Policies in the Nanyang Technological University Singapore Master of Science in Knowledge Management (KM).
Header image source: Pexels on Pixabay.
References:
- Ackoff, R. L. (1989). From Data to Wisdom. Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, 16, 3-9. ↩
- Dewah, P. (2017). Knowledge audit at National Archives of Zimbabwe: a step towards implementing knowledge management. Regional Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 2(1), 1–15. ↩
- Wang, Z., Song, Z., Yu, G., & Wang, X. (2021). An Ontology for Chinese Government Archives Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. IEEE Access, 9, 130199–130211. ↩