In the know: Update – development knowledge rescues | Webinar – indigenous knowledge in evaluation | Evaluating an AI-generated podcast
In the know is a regular roundup of knowledge management (KM) topics of discussion and the articles, events, videos, and podcasts that are grabbing the attention of KM experts across our community.
Update – development knowledge rescues
In a new blog post, Liz McLean provides a comprehensive update on the progress and location of rescued development program information assets. This includes a very valuable search overview of the Policy Commons, the new home for these assets.
This update follows on from the March 2024 launch of the USAID Knowledge Rescue group as an outcome of KM4Dev Knowledge Café 39, which had the theme “Responding to current crises to protect and retain knowledge.” These crises include the sudden shutdown of USAID, as discussed in the RealKM Magazine article “USAID and the new burning of the books in digital and ideological epistemicide. A call to action.”
With thanks to Liz McLean MSLS CKM CKS.
Webinar – indigenous knowledge in evaluation
Most evaluations in Africa still use externally determined frameworks, often sidelining or ignoring local voices. The 10 July 2025 webinar “Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Evaluation Practice” will explore how indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) can lead to more meaningful, community-driven evaluations.
With thanks to Paul Atsu.
Evaluating an AI-generated podcast
In a LinkedIn post, Dr Sarah Cummings reports on her experimental use of NotebookLM to see whether it is an effective tool for learning and advocacy. In her analysis, Sarah explores the positives and negatives of the experience, and puts forward useful lessons that others could learn from. Sarah used NotebookLM to generate a ‘Welcome to the Deep Dive’ podcast about her and Gerrit-Jan van Uffelen’s recent paper1 advocating for a knowledge agenda for food systems resilience in protracted crisis in the Horn of Africa.
With thanks to Dr Sarah Cummings.
References:
- Cummings, S., & van Uffelen, G. J. (2025). A Knowledge Agenda for food systems resilience in protracted crisis in the Horn of Africa. Food Security, 1-16. ↩
