ABSTRACT

This entry provides an overview of knowledge creation and information use within the organizational context. It is claimed that research focusing on these issues is still underdeveloped within library and information science (LIS). Research on information use within organizational settings belongs to the research field of information behavior and information seeking, but it has not gained much attention apart from research on the information needs and uses of different professions and tasks. Research on knowledge creation, in turn, is related to the multidisciplinary field of knowledge management (KM) and more focus has been placed on it within the field of organization theory and management studies. This entry first highlights the distinctive nature of the concepts of information and knowledge and presents the main types of organizational knowledge. Information management (IM) and KM as fields of LIS and their research traditions are discussed. Research on information use is reviewed, with particular emphasis placed on information use environments. Moreover, a model of organizational information use that includes knowledge creation is examined, and the main models of knowledge creation are presented. Finally, these models are compared to highlight their potential relationships, and future research trends are outlined.