1. WORKPLACE
INFORMATION
The exponential growth of data permeating businesses places them
under enormous pressure to store, protect, distribute and archive
records to meet all legal and accountability requirements.
Management that fails to meet all regulations faces potential fines,
penalties and legal problems (including personal liability in some
cases), as well as bad press and the resultant loss of business
profitability.

2. Metadata
 Metadata is structured information that relates
to the how, when, where and why a record is
created. This information includes the file
name, reference number, keywords, retention,
disposal, author and workflow of a document.
 With paper based systems, the capturing of
this information is quite easy; however, the
ability to ensure digital records are captured,
maintained, retained, preserved or destroyed
according to legal and organisational
requirements requires great cooperation
between all sections of an organisation.

3. Types of information
 The success of a business depends on its ability to
deliver the right information to the right person at the
right time. Failure to do so can impact negatively on
customer experiences, employee productivity and
profitability.
 One of the difficulties faced by managers is trying to
categorise the different types of information. This is
further complicated by the fact that there are, to date,
no internationally agreed definitions available. Two
generally accepted categories are:
 knowledge management and information
management.

4. Knowledge management
 Knowledge management is the
organisation’s framework for designing
and implementing procedures and
practices that are used to identify, collect
and distribute knowledge so that people
can do their jobs effectively. This
knowledge is categorised into two areas:
 explicit and tacit knowledge.

5. Explicit and Tacit
 Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be
documented in electronic or written format,
stored and archived as evidence of business
activity
 Tacit knowledge is the ‘know how’ knowledge
that is stored in the minds of employees,
contractors or other business representatives.
 Look at the diagram now on page 176. Read by
yourself

6. Information management
 Once knowledge has been turned into
information, the next step is managing
that information. This incorporates
accessing, processing and controlling
documents to ensure their accuracy and
usability, so they create value both for
the business and its customers.

7. Information Management
 Information management covers areas such
as:
 web content management—including internet,
extranet, podcasts and web casts
 document management—the creation, flow and
storage of documents
 records management—the capture, maintenance
and access to records over time, including digital
information that is often referred to as digital asset
management.

8. QUESTIONS
 In your school, personal and part-time
working life, what types of tacit
knowledge have you gained? Refer to
figure 4.3 to assist with drafting your own
list on page 174