Awareness of Knowledge Management Process among Librarians of Engineering Colleges Affiliated to Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore: A Study

Abstract

Knowledge Management [KM] originated in the early 1990 and is found to be successfully incorporated in government, health care and information sectors. This analytical study provides fundamental understanding on awareness of knowledge management processes among the librarians of engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore.Survey method is followed to collect the data and questionnaire is used as a principal tool for the collection of primary data. The data is analyzed by using the statistical methods like Percentage analysis, Average score analysis, Rank analysis and Chi-Square (χ2), ANOVA and SWOT analysis to export the findings. This study focuses on the qualitative method that is used to investigate the understanding of knowledge management among librarians. This chapter describes the research design, sample selection method, data collection, hypothesis construction, data analysis framework, data processing methods and limitation of the study. It also provides with an overview about the statistical tool and methods applied for the research. The population of this research is the librarians of engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University of technology, Coimbatore which includes 3 government engineering colleges, 2 government aided engineering colleges, 141 self financing engineering colleges and 36 standalone institutions functioning at the time of the study. The major findings of the study revealed that the librarians of studied institutions have good awareness on knowledge management basic, resources and techniques. It is obvious that the ways of knowing of knowledge management process among the librarians are varied. The importance of knowledge management practices in libraries is accepted by most of the respondents. Due to the varying understanding of knowledge management processes, few of the respondents have a shallow perception of the knowledge management processes.