Internet Librarian 2011Knowledge Management in Law Libraries

Jaye A. H. Lapachet, MLISCamille D. Reynolds, MLS

Knowledge Management has morphed completely in the last 10 years within legal organizations. Before KM of the 90s, information management was people managing information. In the 1990s KM was introduced largely as a technology solution. Organizations invested heavily in technology solutions that proposed to tame and connect the disparate information silos. The promise of KM fell a bit flat especially within law firms where technology could not solely solve the search, retrieve and connect problem. The focus of KM started to change to be more about process improvement and efficiency driven by the economic downturn and client pressure to drive down legal costs. Around the same time, libraries within law firms are going through changes brought on by similar pressures. The convergence of these pressures present a unique opportunity for Librarians to improve their organizations and better serve their users and their clients by being involved in KM initiatives within their firms. Librarians are often best suited to contribute or lead KM initiatives within their firm because they already have a good sense of their users information seeking behaviors along with the culture of their organization. This knowledge can be applied to successful KM initiatives that will help their Firm know what they know and find what they have. KM has come around again. Definition of KM The traditional view of Knowledge Management (KM) is narrowly defined as managing the information assets of the Firm. This can include creating directories of model documents; organizing precedent banks; providing current awareness; implementing search technology. These activities are more concerned with documents than processes. The KM key is to link the directories and other sources in a usable, familiar interface. KM activities should be closely related to the core practice of law that focusing on “managing” legal knowledge. However, the practical side of law firm management dictates that, as the legal marketplace continues to evolve, lawyers know they also need to be good at the business of law — the developing of client relationships, the winning of business, the hiring and nurturing of excellent talent and the running of an efficient and humane firm. Any one of these tasks would be a formidable challenge. Knowledge managers need to provide support to their firms for both the practice of law and the business of law. In the current competitive landscape KM is even more important as our people and our expertise continue to be our biggest assets. Managing the flow of expertise and knowledge is key to remaining competitive and efficient. The Library is a key player in engaging the organization in appropriate and successful KM initiatives. KM is a program of organizational change. The biggest problem with Knowledge Management is that it is not a familiar term in law firms. The second biggest problem is perception. When KM is discussed in a law firm the frequent response is an eye-roll or a blank stare. Library is discussed more than KM. The KM failure of the 1990s is part of the reaction, but, also, people simply don't know what KM really means. KM is capturing the good stuff in people's heads and repurposing it. Law firms are not, intrinsically, places where people share. Lawyers are focused on serving the

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needs of their clients and billing their time. If they can’t find their materials, they can’t work. The Librarians’ job is to create the infrastructure and the culture where knowledge flows through the firm using technology AND human connections. Librarians are uniquely positioned to do this, because we work with everyone from the Managing Partner and Executive Director to the guy in the mailroom. Law firm librarians are often involved in the lifecycle of matters from the CI and credit check process to docketing, library research, file help, content help and file closing. Librarians can connect the dots and provide context. KM has changed. Today, KM is directed towards the business of law in order to enable firms to remain competitive. Remaining competitive means improving efficiency. Everything in a law firm has been scrutinized in the past and has had to prove its value. After a firm cuts costs and people what you have left is effectively managing the flow and repurposing of knowledge. It can have an impact, because it connects people with what they need. People in law firms generally forget that it takes more than a lawyer's billable hour or an online database search to run a firm. The combination of the minute pieces of knowledge contribute to a firms success should be acknowledged as valuable, and exploited to run the firm more efficiently. The Library RoleWhat is necessary for a successful KM project and how can Librarians contribute? Librarians are uniquely situated to be a bridge in structuring information in the way our users want and need to consume it. Librarians within organizations already have experience structuring the unstructured information that arrives in their libraries in such a way to meet the needs of their patrons. Librarians are often seen at the content curators of the organization. They are responsible for procuring, managing and training attorneys and staff on the use of third party information products. Librarians can apply the same skills to in-house sourced information. A Librarian’s understanding of his/her user base and their information seeking behaviors can also serve as an excellent bridge between operational and IT staff. Librarians can provide insight on how best to train users in KM tools since they already know how users interface with existing third party tools such as Lexis or Westlaw. One example of this is seamless access without password requirements. IP authentication lowers barriers and contributes to successful adoption. Librarians know they need to make information available in ways users prefer to consume it and not in ways publishers think it should be consumed. KM is about the content and not the container. There are many containers (formats) that can be captured within KM including websites, book chapters, articles, internal documents, white papers (internal and external), other ad hoc materials. The focus should be on organizing and disseminating the content and not discriminating by container. The container is irrelevant; content, and accessibility to it, is key. Sources of information within the organization such as people’s knowledge and internal work product need to be considered. Because it is unique and has firm institutional knowledge, internal information could be the most valuable information, especially for client development. The way internal information is organized can add more value than the information itself. If an attorney can put their hands on a piece of information that solves a client’s problem quickly and efficiently, and with predictability, the attorney can deliver better client service for less cost and more profit. This is the potential of KM. Librarians already hold many of the skills necessary to deliver these kinds of solutions. KM is a new way of thinking about managing information over which Librarians are stewards. Must Haves for a Successful KM Project

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"It’s not about buying and rolling out technology, it’s not about giving people new toys, and it’s not about adding another task into the project framework – it’s about changing the way people think." (Dec 20, 2010, Knoco Stories blog / Top 7 reasons why KM implementations fail: http://bit.ly/oKUs6N ) In order for a successful KM project, it is critical to, first, identify a champion or stakeholder who can help solidify support from upper management. Having a high level champion will help insure success by generating buy-in from upper management and those the KM project will benefit. It is also important to get buy-in from affected staff, such as Librarians, Records staff, Secretaries etc. If you do not have a champion, walk away from the project, no matter how much you long to implement KM. If you do not have staff excitement, take the time to generate it before moving ahead. You cannot successfully complete this project without your staff. Organizational change cannot be implemented without organizational buy-in. Getting organizational buy-in and/or finding a champion will take time. You must network. Seize opportunities to discuss KM (skip the lingo) at meetings and other events. When training one-on-one, listen for clues about problems the user is having finding information and suggest that KM solutions might be possible. When you have put a generated some buzz, start your proposal. Defining the KM ProjectSecond, you must define what KM means for your organization. The definition your organization uses, which you (and a team??) develop, will be different from the general definition above. No organization, especially law firms, fit neatly into the ‘Normal’ box. You will need to take into account what information sources should be included, what people or practice areas will be involved and the organizational culture. Your organization’s definition of KM will inform how you define the project. It is imperative to start small with KM. You can plan big and determine that you will organize the entire universe of your firm and assume that everyone will buy-in. You will fail. Start a very small scale pilot with a single group of users or a practice group. Think, and make notes, about scaling up during the pilot as thinking long term will will prepare you for the future of the project. One of the most important reasons to start small is to have a chance at demonstrating success. Demonstrating success on a small scale project will fuel interest in future larger scale KM projects. Starting small will demonstrate the value and usefulness of KM within the organization, which will make your champion look good. Success will, in turn, create additional supporters who sign on to become champions for the next phase of project. Achieve success how you can, because it, ultimately, makes the organization more nimble and efficient. Small, successful projects pave the way. The next step, after you determine your firm definition of KM is to define the project scope. Implementing a KM project successfully hinges on defining the problem the project will solve. “At its heart, KM concerns itself with solving business problems” (Lasteres 2011 p. 23). Answering this question should be at the heart of every KM project. What problem is this KM project solving? Define the problem to be solved and stick to it religiously. By defining a discrete problem to solve you have the information you need to scale the project to a manageable size. You can always scale the project up once you have demonstrated its value and generated interest. By starting small you can also utilize fewer resources and “prove the value” before requesting a large organizational investment of additional staff and money. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you can do this project 100% with existing resources. You can’t. As Librarians we are constantly managing multiple priorities and dropping everything

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to meet attorney and client needs. A KM project must be planned out like any other complex project, so your next step is to draft a plan. Once your plan is drafted you will have the information you need to evaluate the resources needed in terms of staffing and budget. You may be able to clear out some space staff schedules by surveying the team’s existing duties. a survey and realignment of tasks will allow them to take part. Survey questions to answer:

● Are there tasks you are doing that are not high value? ● Are there things that could be combined with other tasks to be more efficient and thereby

freeing up staff time to take on duties related to the KM project. ● Are there out of date tasks that are no longer needed to run your department?● Are your staff duplicating chores of another department?● Have low value tasks been dumped on your department?

An internal review of this type will also inform you of the need for outside resources, such as data entry people or additional cloud based storage. Staffing and budget have to be clear and well thought out, so the project gets the go ahead with the extra money and staff it needs to be successful. It is not reasonable or advisable to assume you can complete even a small scale KM project by assigning additional tasks to existing staff. You must also be realistic about what your staff can do and allocate the time accordingly. If you have a part-time person don’t heap full time work on that person. One scalable option is to utilize a temp for the project. Temp hours can be adjusted as needed. If the person is successful in your firm environment, s/he can be hired permanently. It is important to have staff on the project that understand and know how to define the hierarchy of information. This is another reason to do a review of your existing operations and staff to understand where additional bandwidth of your team is available. Reality Check

KM was in vogue in 1990s law firms. At that time KM was viewed mostly as a technology solution and many KM ventures failed. 2011’s KM is not the KM of the 1990s. We now know that solutions are not all about technology. Information is more complex. With the advent of the Web and its myriad of subscription online services, websites and blogs KM has to expand. "While supposedly getting more done in less time through our immersion into digital technology, we are actually working more slowly, absorbing information less effectively, and hampering our capacity for analytic reasoning. " (O’Dell & Hubert “Knowledge management in a new

Context” http://bit.ly/nkUfGR ) This is a perfect way to sell KM. A KM system, well implemented and once fully functional, will allow people to retrieve information regardless of whether they are efficient or not. It may help them regain some of their efficiency. KM today is being driven by 4 different forces according to the updated volume “The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business, by Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert (American Productivity & Quality Center, 2011). The four forces include:

● digital immersion● social computing● demographics and dynamics● mobile devices and video

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These forces offer challenges and enhancements to the potential and practice of KM. Digital immersion is a force that touches most modern workers. We are experiencing digital technology almost every aspect of our lives, not the least of which is the expectation of 24/7 connectivity. This force is affecting how we work and live. Multitasking is the norm whether it is effective or not. Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford University, states that his data suggest that “multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking.” (O’Dell & Hubert 2011). Dr. Nass’ findings are clear “While supposedly getting more done in less time through our immersion into digital technology, we are actually working more slowly, absorbing information less effectively, and hampering our capacity for analytic reasoning.” (O’Dell & Hubert 2011). The cultural work shift described means that KM projects need to adapt in order to align with employees’ time and attention limitations. For example, we should assume employees are multitasking and that isn’t making them perform more efficiently. We shouldn’t assume that an employee will remember where to find a critical piece of information when they need it. These assumptions should inform the structure and approach of your KM project. As a result, our KM approaches shouldn’t interrupt employees but should be built into their existing workflow. Social Computing, or social media, is the second force affecting KM implementations. Nearly one-fourth of the world’s 1.8 billion Internet users have profiles on social networking sites. In some corners social computing is seen as a barrier crushing application. The strength of social computing is based on the theory that content improves as more people interact with, and build on it. An excellent example involve wikis. People can see and easily access information, because they get a notice when shared pages have changed, they will interact with it. People learn better when they are interested in a topic. Social computing has trained people to interact with information through the use of Facebook comments on others’ photos and status updates or Twitter replies. Social Media has shown people that sharing information can be useful and fun. In a personal context, we see pictures of pets and kids. Using these tidbits of information, people have topics of conversation for later use. This is personal KM and it prepares them for organizational KM. When utilizing social computing for KM projects, be realistic about participation rates. On Facebook 80% of content is posted by 20% of users. On Twitter 90% of content is posted by 10% of users. When implementing a KM project with social computing, success may mean a small participation rate compared to other methods such as a work product sharing incentive program. An example of an effective social computing strategy might be having social tagging available within the library catalog to give attorneys the ability to comment and point to resources that are helpful for their specialized area of law. This feature could also be used as a training tool for newer attorneys. Even popular social computing methods require KM professionals to lead an effective KM strategy to insure engagement. There has to be a strategy behind the use of social computing. Social computing may be in a better place for core successful KM initiatives. People can be unimaginative in the work context. This may have been the cause, in addition to unrealistic expectation, and failures of KM initiatives in the 90s. People are not stupid, however, and once they see the possibilities, they will extrapolate out. People are smart and will translate that experience to the professional environment. If they share, others will share with them, giving them pieces of information to assimilate into a product they can use to land a client, impress a partner or finish their project in record time. Again, when people see KM success they will want to join the party as well. Demographics and dynamics is the third force impacting KM today. The demographics of today’s workforce is another reason to start KM in your organization. The country is experiencing workforce mobility, a lack of institutional loyalty and constant layoffs. Add the

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impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers and the result could a huge loss of tacit and organizational knowledge. In addition to the demographics, organizations must continue to change rapidly in order to remain competitive. They expect new employees to get up to speed faster with fewer resources, because employers are looking for stronger revenues and higher productivity. The development of a KM project should consider these evolving demographics and power dynamics. Employees increasingly expect more engagement and information. They want to get at the information in the same way they do in their personal lives. People don’t want to use cumbersome archaic tools. Law firms historically get to this point more slowly than other organization, but as any law firm IT person will tell you, the cat is out of the bag and the consumerization of organizational IT has already happened. Mobile devices and video are the final force affecting KM. Mobile and video perhaps present the largest challenge and opportunity for engaging employees in KM initiatives. Things to consider when implementing a KM project with regard to mobile devices and video are:

● Tablet vs. Smartphone - the difference in size gives them distinct attributes● Appropriate information to deliver on the smaller screens of a smart phone vs. the larger

screen of a tablet. QR Codes are very popular. If you set them up, what information is appropriate for people to look at on small screens? What information should be diverted via the mobile device to a larger device.

● What problem are you solving by enabling access on the mobile device?● How do you manage security and risk?

Remember to focus on the business problem to be solved by the KM project. Keep in mind your user basebase and balance. Don’t become enamored with shiny gadgets that may or may not have a role in solving that business problem. ToolsThe ultimate selection of the right tools is critical to the success of any KM project. In many ways knowledge is never truly managed but directed through the organization in the same way a water flows down a river. Use tools to customize products from third party vendors so you can disseminate information in a targeted, familar manner. Choose tools similar to consumer tools with which people are familiar. Tools shouldn’t be used to constrain the flow of information. We discussed starting small in the planning stages, but it also applies to tool selection. Starting small means your project can utilize tools that already exist in your organization. You don’t have to go through the trial and RFP process, which means that you start a test project sooner. This strategy keeps the initial costs low, improves ROI, shows you are a team player and doesn’t come out of partner pockets. You can also more easily switch tools, if the initial selection isn’t working out. Tools such as wikis can be a great low cost tool to build a KM project. In both of our firms we have utilized wikis to manage information, train staff and collaborate across our firms in an easy to use platform that fits within existing workflows. At Nossaman, we use a wiki for the KM department. We house best practices, research checklists for the librarians, risk management checklists for our records and docket folks and project pages for various team projects in progress. At Coblentz, we use a wiki for the library procedure manual, cross departmental knowledge sharing, personal orientation pages and a variety of information resources. The ease of use of the wiki makes it accessible to all staff and the email notifications of content changes help keep the team informed of procedure changes or helpful tips from team members. Other tools that can help build a successful KM project can include outside content sources like the new WestlawNext foldering system. Research results are stored in folders gives the creator

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the ability to share the research folders with others, including those outside the organization. Is this KM? We think it is a way of getting content to users who need it using tools within their current workflow, which is KM. It is important to look at all the tools to which your firm subscribes and figure out what you can use. Templates and checklists can also be used as effective KM tools. They can be built using existing technology, such as word processing, or forms products such as Sharepoint Infopath. Vendor generated templates such as PBWorks’ KM template can also be a great starting point. KM project tools should also improve efficiency. The Coblentz library staff no longer prints or emails results from WestlawNext unless specifically requested. The new normal practice is to save research results into folders and then share the folder with the attorney. The attorney can access the folder via a link emailed to them. This saves time in printing and collating results. It also provides a container for the research that can then be shared across the attorney team if needed, leading to greater collaboration and less duplication of research. New attorneys added to the case can also benefit from this shared folder concept as they can immediately see the search results that have already been organized. Whichever tools you select for your KM project, it is important to effectively combine the tools to solve the identified business problem. The project may need to go in another direction if tools aren’t working, which means that the leader of the project team has to be flexible. KM is not about technology or tools its about identifying and solving a business problem using effective strategies for putting the knowledge in the hands of the user when they need it. Camille’s Case StudyHow can librarians transition into KM in their organization? Firm management approached Camille with the proposal to turn the then Research and Risk Management Department into a KM Department, which would be granted responsibility and authority for all content systems. Content systems, at the launch of the new department, lived in a variety of departments and included the intranet, document management and customer relationship management systems. Organizationally, this was a logical extension of the Library’s mission i.e. to connect users with the information and knowledge they need to do their job regardless of the origin of the information. Practically, we would be absorbing responsibility for information systems from other departments. The first step to transitioning from a traditional library role to KM, in Camille’s experience, was to get control of the organization’s purchased resources. Getting control of internal information can be addressed in many ways. One way is to start small with a single team or practice group. Find out how they utilize their information, how they collaborate or not and what THEIR clients want. Then, design an infrastructure for delivering and sharing knowledge among the team that meets their work habits and captures internal information as its relevant within the workflow. Next, the new department needs to setup the structure for internal information so it can be delivered in the way the users want to see it. Identify all the types of information and prioritize so you can start with the highest priority. Develop a structure for the content that matches the way the users access other firm information. For example, our litigators wanted to file their electronic documents coming in from the court directly into our DMS, so our Records team designed a system that matches the litigation case workflow. It provides a logical place to file documents and retrieve them quickly. Designing a structure for internal information will vary from firm to firm and it is best to start at the practice group level and expand. Case study of Jaye’s KM Project

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In the course of providing some one-on-one training for a managing partner, he mentioned that there were too many disparate respositories of information and he wasn’t able to use them, or even remember they were there. His dream was to create a one stop shop for his information. Jaye realized that this was why people used Google (they knew where to find it, could put in a few words and generally get to their secondary source) and knew she had to create some sort of directory that linked people to the information they needed. She started a pilot using PBWorks and one practice area to gather all information for that practice area in a topic oriented structure. Using the pilot, Jaye was able to identify the pros and cons of the proposed system and write up a proposal. The proposal included:

● a definition of KM for our firm● proposed tools● description of types of content● process for testing● the perceived value the system would bring to the firm ● results and resulting thoughts

This project is being debated in the upper echelons of the firm, but members of the Library team are adding information on an ad hoc basis. ChallengesImplementing a successful KM project, even a small one, has challenges. Even a small project requires a significant amount of work to ensure project success. Change management is the biggest challenge, especially if your KM project requires your users to change their workflow. To overcome this challenge, limit the impact on day to day workflows and build the KM infrastructure into existing workflows. Not only is this one way to contribute to success, but it will make the KM project seem to glide in under the firm radar. There is a fine line between advertising your project and making the change seem too big and scary. Another challenge is money. KM projects can be very expensive in terms of both staff and financial resources. Starting small, as previously discussed, and being creative with existing tools can help manage this challenge. In any KM project whether large or small it often takes time for results to appear to users. This is a challenge, because you need to keep users engaged and committed. It often takes just one or two success stories to win over skeptics. Positive stories spread, too. Look for opportunities to tell success stories about your project in a variety of venues, no matter how small. Working successfully with your IT department can also be a challenge. KM is not a 100% technology solution, though technology is integral. A key to overcoming this challenge is, first, foster mutual respect for your disparate departments and, 2) understand your firm’s IT capabilities. Get to know the IT team, take them to lunch so you can listen to their concerns and empathize with their unique challenges. Involve them in every technology related step of the KM process. Keep them in the loop on non-technology related aspects. Give credit where credit is due. IT is a key partner in any KM project and having their support and assistance is critical to the success of your KM project. A final challenge is finding a foolproof method for measuring success of a KM project. You may never completely overcome this challenge, no matter how carefully you have planned, because of the complexity of the project. There are a lot of moving parts. However, by defining what success means for your project at the start, you and your team will be able to keep focus on the elements that will make your defined project a success by your firm’s standards. Implement standard measurement tools, such as webstats or usage stats, where available, cost effective

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and possible. Some measurement criteria for a successful project could be things like time to complete X task has been reduced by Y, or email traffic has decreased due to utilization of social media or other collaboration technology, which clearly enhances efficiency and communication. Whatever metrics you choose its important to measure success in a standard way on an ongoing basis. ConclusionKM projects have a bad rep. KM projects are now more about people than technology. The focus is now on connecting people to the information they need via technology. Technology is not the solution but people using technology effectively moves organizations closer to efficient knowledge sharing. It is important to overcome the 1990s reputation by networking, planning, scaling appropriately and partnering. Camille Reynolds is the Director of KM at Nossaman LLP

Jaye Lapachet is the Manager of Library Services at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP

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BibliographyAbraham, V Mary (2011). “Creating optimal KM value strategy” http://aboveandbeyondkm.com/2011/08/creating-an-optimal-km-value-strategy-ilta11.html Abraham, V Mary (2011) “Google+ and Greta Garbo”: http://aboveandbeyondkm.com/2011/07/google-plus-and-greta-garbo.html Abram, Stephen (2011) “New Evolution of KM”. http://stephenslighthouse.com/2011/08/09/evolution-of-knowledge-management/ Bowyer, Alex (2011) “Why files need to die” http://t.co/X25OzhY HBR article: Management Tip of the Day: 3 Ways to Turn Old Data into Gold: http://bit.ly/dFFsL1 Lastres, Steven (2011) “Aligning through KM” Info Outlook v.15, n4, June 2011, pg.23-25 Miller, Christian (2011) “Creating Intelligent Libraries by Christian Miller”. Info Outlook v.15, n4, June 2011. Milton, Nick (2010) “Top 7 Reasons KM implementations fail” http://www.nickmilton.com/2010/12/top-7-reasons-why-km-implementations.html O’Dell, Carla & Hubert, Cindy (2011) The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way we do Business. O’Dell, Carla & Hubert, Cindy (2011) “KM in a new context” http://www3.cfo.com/article/2011/8/strategy_knowledge-management-in-a-new-context Podboy, Alvin (2011) “Seeking Symbiosis: Expert researchers combine human and computer skills to get best search results” http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202494754573&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1 Riccio, Holly (2011) AALL Spectrum “Everything old is new again” http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/spectrum/Vol-15/May-2011/pub-sp1105-KM.pdf Rusanow, Gretta (2003). ALM. KM and the Smarter Lawyer

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