Rules for leaders of knowledge citizens
Abstract: In 1909, Sam Walter Foss, a librarian at the Somerville Public Library in Massachusetts, wrote a paper
entitled ‘Some cardinal principals of librarian’s work’. Interestingly, Foss emphasized and encouraged the role of the librarian to be a fundamentally social and people-oriented character as opposed to a shy and retiring ‘book lover’. This is relevant because, even in 1909, Foss recognized that a people orientation was the fundamental ingredient of a leader in an intellectual or knowledge type environment.
Modern-day leaders of knowledge citizens know that without a high degree of people focus and orientation, any knowledge management practice or programme will be unsuccessful.
Based on this understanding, we will examine whether Foss’s 1909 cardinal principles are as outdated as the language that he used in his original paper.
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entitled ‘Some cardinal principals of librarian’s work’. Interestingly, Foss emphasized and encouraged the role of the librarian to be a fundamentally social and people-oriented character as opposed to a shy and retiring ‘book lover’. This is relevant because, even in 1909, Foss recognized that a people orientation was the fundamental ingredient of a leader in an intellectual or knowledge type environment.
Modern-day leaders of knowledge citizens know that without a high degree of people focus and orientation, any knowledge management practice or programme will be unsuccessful.
Based on this understanding, we will examine whether Foss’s 1909 cardinal principles are as outdated as the language that he used in his original paper.
Melanie Sutton: Cardinal rules for those entrusted with leading knowledge citizenship, South African Journal of Information Management (Information Citizenship), Vol 2, No 4 (2000), a657
(CC) BY 4.0 Melanie Sutton, published by African Online Scientific Information Systems.
Other “Information Citizenship” series articles:
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- Melanie Sutton: Traversing the virtual landscape of a knowledge citizen, South African Journal of Information Management (Information Citizenship), Vol 9, No 4 (2007), a39 | Full text »
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