Joining Dots says why KM is so difficult

Sharon Richardson of Joining Dots writes Why is KM so difficult?

It's a popular question and there are many reasons but, after 10 years of talking about it, I still find the following 5 to be the most common:

1. Organisations do not sufficiently recognise they are already doing it
2. Knowledge is treated the same as information
3. Information technology is often regarded as a substitute for social interaction
4. Most knowledge management solutions look like traditional techniques
5. First understand what you want to achieve

Excellent.  Sharon details out each of these in the full entry.  I particularly like #2 here.  We certainly have a lot of information laying about in emails and document management systems.  But that barely scratches the surface when it comes to what we know and how we know it.  Shouldn't we be spending more time (and money) assisting the growth, development and refinement what we know, rather than just what can be recorded?

And #4 strikes a nerve.  I was just in the library at a local university and looked up a book in their online catalog.  The beautiful, flat-screen monitor was sure easy to read.  But when I got the call number, I had no idea where to find the book.  There was no map anywhere near the computers.  And would it be that difficult to add a "where is this" link to the card catalog itself?  (It turns out the "map" of the stacks was near the elevators, which I hope to remember the next time I need a book from that library.)

Of course, the last point is right on.  What is the real goal of the organization?  How will knowledge management (or blogging or software-X) move you in that direction?