Finding and Managing Information

Tsehay Gashaw and Ewen Le Borgne

ILRI Komms Klinics Session

ILRI, Addis Ababa, 28 August 2012

The Komms Klinics approach

• Away from (just) tools, into

communication processes

• Six broad communication areas

• Tools are still part of the picture

• Awareness raising and hands-on

training sessions

• More trainers, more trainees

The Komms Klinics approach

Overview

1. What is Finding and Managing Information ?

2. Finding information

1. - As individuals

2. - As organizations

3. Managing information

- Why? and How?

- Managing information organizationally

4. One step further: Working out loud & PKM

5. Summary

What is finding & managing

information?

WIIFM?

What’s in it for me?

Why fin

din

g a

nd m

an

ag

ing in

form

ation

?

• Collecting

Wh

at

is f

ind

ing

&

ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n?

• Managing

• Sharing

As individuals?

As organizations?

As individuals?

As orgs?

Wh

at

is f

ind

ing

&

ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n?

Finding information?

• From the work we (ILRI & partners) do

• Face-to-face meetings

• Events / workshops

Internet

Publications or books

•

What are information sources? F

indin

g info

rmation

• Too much!

- Too much information / knowledge out there

- Too many platforms / tools?

• Dealing with information overload...

• Quality Information

• Filter failure?

Finding information: problems ? F

indin

g info

rmation

Overcoming information overload

• What are the information sources?

• What is your priority?

• Know what your are looking for ?

• Deal with your email

• Know what your are subscribing (RSS

feeds)

• Get your own time (disconnect yourself for a moment)

Fin

din

g info

rmation

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

• Finding information as individuals

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

• Face-to-face

• On the web

Basic command:

“...” : the exact phrase

* : Words starting with e.g People*

OR : Logical expression

Advanced search:

[site: country code] : country code e.g et

[filetype:] : specific format e.g doc

Etc...

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

• Using social media

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

• Using social media: Yammer

Fin

din

g in

form

ation

pe

rson

ally

• Using social media: Twitter

• Finding organizational information F

ind

ing

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

The ILRI case

Repository (final outputs)

Website

Ilrinet

Online academic journals

Blogs (subscribe to newsfeed)

Social media (Yammer, flickr, twitter, etc...)

Fin

din

g in

form

atio

n –

th

e I

LR

I ca

se

Search result

Search, browse,

subscribe

Search result

Outputs harvested

Scientists’

research results

Video/audio Presentation

Publications Journals

Outputs

re-published

User

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

http://mahider.ilri.org

Open digital repository of ILRI (and

other) final outputs

• Search and browse:

– Use keywords, title, author, etc.

– Search in the different sub-communities

– Search in different collections: ILRI journal

articles, conference papers, publications

etc.

• Subscribe to RSS feed / e-mail alerts

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

• ILRI website

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

• Online academic journals

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

• ILRI Clippings

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

• ILRI News blog

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

ILRI’s presentations

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

ILRI’s photo collection

Fin

din

g

org

aniz

atio

na

l in

form

ation

• ILRI Calendar

Managing information?

Why manage information?

To make informed decisions

…Based on up-to-date information

Quality /relevant information

To re-use information…

…And learn from the past Ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n: W

hy?

an

d H

ow

?

How? M

an

ag

ing

in

form

atio

n: W

hy?

an

d H

ow

?

What does it involve?

And content!!!

Ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n: W

hy?

an

d H

ow

?

How do we manage

information? Organize our content

Categorize and tag it properly

Use different technology like:

• - Social media tools

• - Content management systems

• - Your note pad...

Ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n: W

hy?

an

d H

ow

?

• Managing information organizationally

the ILRI case

Ma

na

gin

g in

form

atio

n o

rga

niz

atio

na

lly

Managing information organizationally

Mahider

Wikis

Blogs

Delicious

Slideshare

Flickr

Blip

RSS feeds

ILRI comms does it with you!

Ho

w d

o w

e m

an

ag

e in

form

atio

n?

One step further…

Working out loud

PKM

Working out loud

Journal and share your work!

On

e s

tep

fu

rth

er…

Personal knowledge

management (PKM)

Credits: Harold Jarche

On

e s

tep

fu

rth

er…

Summary

Summary

Identify the right source(s)

to look for relevant

information Credits: Chacka Chacka

Summary

Good information management leads to

better informed decisions

Summary

Filter

quality

content &

sharpen

your filters

(networks)

Summary

Re-use

content

saved,

tagged,

stored

Credits: Adam Cohn

Summary

Manage your information needs and

practices (reflect!)

Summary

Work out loud!

Summary

Learn from the past, prepare the future

What’s more?

Resources

• “Working out loud”, your personal content

strategy

• The personal KM primer

• Some personal effectiveness bookmarks

on Del.icio.us

• Managing information at ILRI – our

guidelines ILRI Comms wiki (FAQ)

More about Komms Klinics

• Visit our Komms Klinics training wiki:

http://ilri-training.wikispaces.com

• Find out more and contact Tsehay, Ewen or

Peter

• Find answers to communication questions:

http://ilri-comms.wikispaces.com

• Find out about the activities of ILRI’s

communication team:

http://infoilri.wordpress.com

Reflection & group work

• What are your personal tips and tricks to find

and manage information individually?

• E.g. What are the best sources?

• What are useful practices and tools?

International Livestock Research Institute Better lives through livestock

Animal agriculture to reduce poverty, hunger and

environmental degradation in developing countries

ILRI

www.ilri.org