Knowledge Manegment Systems Essays - , Term Papers

Knowledge Manegment Systems WEBSTER UNIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS? TIMOTHY W. HYDE COMP 5910 31 Mar 98 TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT ii INTRODUCTION 1 WHAT IS A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1 Technologies 2 WHY USE IT 2 Advantages 2 GOAL 3 SAMPLE PRODUCT 3 WINCITE 5.0 3 INTRASPECT 1.5 4 CHANNELMANAGER 2.0 4 Premise #1 4 Premise #2 4 BACKWEB 4.0 5 CONCLUSION 5 WORK CITED 6 INTRODUCTION In today's information based society, knowledge is power. By knowing their customers a business will have the ability to build products coveted by their customers. If a company is to get ahead in business today, they need to have a firm grasp on how to get the best production out of their employees. One way to help employees be all they can be is to provide them with the tools necessary to do their job. With the explosion of the service industry, today more than ever what employees need to do their job is information. Information about warehouse and store inventories, hot and cold selling merchandise and most importantly information about the customers they service. Software developers have heeded the call of the corporate leaders and are creating technology to help managers collect the data they need and put it in a useful form. This paper will discuss the emerging knowledge management systems being used today, in an attempt to take advantage of the enormous databases which have been created. WHAT IS A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Knowledge management is at various stages of development in American businesses. Some companies are just taking their first steps toward identifying and organizing the components of their information systems. Others have already recruited knowledge managers and are looking to revamp and improve established system. The tools a majority of these companies are using in the renovation efforts are knowledge management systems. A knowledge management system is a software tool that is intended to assist, through knowledge processing functions, users who desire to retrieve and manipulate information for different applications. The various tools of such a framework should help users to originate and organize ideas or understand and communicate ideas more easily and accurately than can be done with most current tools. A knowledge management systems is an integrated multifunctional system that can support all main knowledge management and knowledge processing activities. Knowledge management systems are difficult to understand because the business processes it strives to computerize doesn't exist in the real world for most organizations. Unlike replacing a machine such as a typewriter or an office procedure such as document control, businesses have been trying unsuccessfully throughout the 20th century to make knowledge management a reality. Excluding those companies whose entire business is knowledge management, there's no obvious, proven model to follow. However, knowledge management can be described by stepping back from technologies and products and taking a high-level view of the business issues before jumping into technology-based solutions. A Knowledge management system is a program that provides companies the ability to gather its collective expertise. Valued at $1.5 billion in 1996 and slated to increase to $5 billion annually by 2000, the development of knowledge management systems is big business. The appeal of knowledge management reaches all types of firms, including automakers and consulting firms. With the decentralization of many businesses the focus on knowledge management has increased. Many of today's managers fear that corporate knowledge is being wasted because no one knows what vast knowledge exists. Technologies Involved Knowledge Management software helps support its users in their efforts to collect information, to organize it, to collaborate around it, thus allowing a means to search and discover knowledge contained in the group memory, so that it can be reapplied or extended, and reused. It does this by using a server to capture information from various electronic information sources This allows individuals and groups to capture information, together with its context, into the group memory from which it can be accessed from the user's desktop and across the enterprise. A knowledge management systems are composed of a variety of technologies including; intranets, data warehousing, decision-support tools, and groupware to name a few. About half of the companies recently surveyed by Delphi Consulting are creating systems which intranet technology to improve their knowledge management, while another 25 percent plan to do so in the near future. Similarly, one-third of developers surveyed by Delphi are creating data warehouses, while nearly 25 percent plan in progress to incorporate data warehouses. Also, one-third are implementing decision-support tools, while

Alvarez Surname Meaning and Origin

Alvarez Surname Meaning and Origin Alvarez is a patronymic (derived from the name of the father) surname meaning son of Alvaro and is thought to have originated with the Visigoths. The Visigoths were 5th-century German warriors who participated in the eventual fragmentation and collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and one of two main branches of the East Germanic tribe known as Goths. According to the Instituto Genealà ³gico e Histà ³rico Latino-Americano, the surname Alvarez originated in Spain, primarily from the regions of Andalucà ­a, Aragà ³n, Asturias, Galicia, Leà ³n, and Navarra. Alvarez Surname: Fast Facts Alvarez is the 26th most common Hispanic surname.Surname Origin:  SpanishAlternate Surname Spellings:  Albarez, Alvaroz, Alviriz, Alvares, Albaroiz Famous People with the Surname Alvarez Carlos Alvarez- Spanish opera singerLuis Walter Alvarez- American experimental physicist, Nobel Prize winner in PhysicsLuis Fernndez lvarez- Spanish American doctor and researcher; grandfather of Luis Walter AlvarezPedro Alvarez- Dominican American MLB baseball playerJosà © lvarez Cubero- Spanish sculptorJorge Montt lvarez- Chilean Admiral and former President of ChileGregorio lvarez- Argentine historian, physician, and writer;  the Alvarezsaurus dinosaur was named for him. Where Do People With the Alvarez Surname Live? The surname distribution data at  Forebears  ranks Alvarez as the 212th most common surname in the world, identifying it as most prevalent in Mexico and with the highest density in Cuba. The Alvarez surname is the 10th most common surname in Cuba, 11th in Argentina, and 16th in Spain. Within Spain, Alvarez is found most commonly in the northwestern regions of Asturias, followed by Galicia and Castille Y Leà ³n,  according to  WorldNames PublicProfiler. Is There an Alvarez Coat of Arms? Contrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as an Alvarez family crest or coat of arms.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   Resources for Exploring the Alvarez Surname ALVAREZ Family Genealogy Forum- Search this popular genealogy forum for the Alvarez surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Alvarez query.FamilySearch: ALVAREZ Genealogy- Access over 2.7 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Alvarez surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.ALVAREZ Surname Family Mailing Lists- This free mailing list for researchers of the Alvarez surname and its variations includes subscription details and a searchable archives of past messages.DistantCousin.com- ALVAREZ Genealogy Family History- Explore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Alvarez.The Alvarez Genealogy and Family Tree Page- Browse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Alvarez from the website of Genealogy Today. Genealogy and Resources for Spanish Surnames Have you ever wondered about your Spanish last name  and how it came to be? The 100 Most Common Spanish Surnames have unique naming patterns and origins. When researching  your Hispanic heritage, its best to start with the basics such as family tree research and country-specific organizations, genealogical records, and resources for Spain, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean and other Spanish speaking countries. Sources Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. ï » ¿Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.