Summary: In this entry I suggest a refined and expanded definition of k-logs. I do this because it seems to me that knowledge is product, yes, but also process. Thus, "All k-logs are weblogs. K-logs are a species of weblogs. K-logs are weblogs used specifically for the purposes of sharing /documenting knowledge and/or sharing the process of knowledge-making".
Klog Definition Issues:
A 'Weblog' is the generic term for the individually web-published entry of some content. This core notion plus posting, and the capacity for entry archival, sorting and searching differentiate the weblog from a static web page. A K-log (klog) is something else.
John Robb states that,
"A K-Log is a personal Web site that contains annotated links to other Web sites, Intranet resources, pictures, multimedia, documents, and other useful material. They are organized by time in a daily format (with the most recent posts first). It is important to remember that K-Logs are living sites that are authored by individuals. They reflect what a person is thinking about and doing during the course of the day. They are archives of experiences, organized in a way that makes it easy for visitors to understand. A K-Log is a tool that runs on your desktop. The interface for a K-Log is your browser. A K-Log combines a weblog publishing tool and news reader. K-Logs are used for knowledge sharing in corporations and nonprofits".
While I find his definition of klog useful I also find it to be slightly cluttered (see below)and unreflective of the process and product distinction re knowledge-making. (Knowledge once obtained can be demonstrated/proven, but as it's being sought -but not yet found- it's the problems that occasioned the search and the processes of the search itself which are shared.)Thus, I would like both to simplify and to broaden John's definition, leaving room in klogs for the author's intent to: a) document a knowledge product, b)share a knowledge-building process or c) to do both a and b.
Hacking at the Definition of Klog (reader comments and additons are welcome):
To start with I'll simplify by stripping off some of the web technology additions to what I consider the pure klog. Thus, my first version of a pure klog: "First, A k-log (knowledge log) is a weblog, meeting the definitional requirements of weblog. Second, a klog also demonstrates/documents a knowledge claim and/or it documents and illustrates the dynamic individual process of a quest for knowledge."
Thoughts on klogging and knowledge-making:
The pure klog can serve to document an individual's struggle to make knowledge. In an augmented klog, such as that allowed by Radio Userland, the presence of a news reader, automatic google searches on the klog title, links to source(s) and something like Mark Pilgrim's 'further reading' [which shows commentary from reactors to a klog entry] will, I believe, accelerate the knowledge-making process. The augmented klog's structure and linkages enhance the likelihood of accelerated learning not only on the part of the writer but of the ad hoc community (see S. Paquet and references) that is drawn to and subsequently follows through on the klog writer's lead. Klog and links accelerate the knowledge-making of first one and then others who return the favor through substantive processing of the topic in their own klog items and linkages. (See, for example, Matt Mower's "learning right in front of you" klogging style .) My distillation of these ideas into something like testable claims/hypotheses are below.
Two hypotheses for further research on augmented klogs re knowledge-making (another hypothesis concerning the effect upon accelerated community knowledge-making will hopefully follow but is not yet stated):
First, the basic klog hypothesis: a comparison of otherwise equivalent initial learning 'problems' will show that klogging of knowledge acquisition [with no other supports, not even the news reader] will result in faster and more comprehensive knowledge acquisiton than a nonreflective participation in a quest for the same knowledge.
Second, the augmented klog hypothesis: comparison of otherwise equivalent initial learning 'problems' will show that the klog augmented by news aggregators, automatic google searches (such as googleIt applied to title) and commentary from readers of klog entries (as in 'further reading' [see above]) will demonstrate significantly enhanced speed and comprehensiveness of development when compared to results of the pure klog approach.
