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products of Nokia, the Communicator. Hakkarainen points out that this emerged accidentally
in an informal and unscheduled meeting between two or three engineers (Hakkarainen,
2004). The promotion of informal knowledge sharing could have also helped Tanzania public
university libraries solve some of their problems or lead them to an innovation which will
move the libraries a step ahead.
The body of literature advocating the importance of informal networks and sharing is
growing. Failing to take account of the powerful internal forces within organisations,
according to (Cook, 1999) is a fundamental weakness in many knowledge management
implementation processes. Insights can be gained into what (Levinson, 1999) describes as
“mutual utility” and by Capron and (Kuiper, 1998) as a “shared spirit of community”.
Informal networks are important devices for promoting communication within and between
organisations which are perceived by (Conway, 2002) as structures that supplement,
complement and add value to the formal organisation. In sometimes bypassing the formal
organisation‟s system of communication (Rachman & Mescon, 1985) suggest that such
structures strongly influence the distribution of power and while the formal organisation
spells out who should have power, it is the informal organisation that sometimes reveals who
actually has it.
Informal knowledge sharing facilitates the leveraging of knowledge even outside the
organisation. Individuals within these informal structures will maintain contacts even if they
switch from one to another. Informal structures are more powerful as Wenger suggested, due
to the fact that the organisation itself may have little impact on how informal knowledge
sharing networks are formed and operate. With changing demographics, at times libraries
may find themselves facing the challenge of losing important skills due to retirement.
Communities of practice are among informal strategies Tanzania Public libraries may use to
take advantage of by connecting with these people with skills and enjoying their service.
4.1.4. Disadvantages of Informal knowledge sharing.
Having put forward reasons as to why Tanzania public university libraries need to promote
informal strategies of knowledge sharing, it is important to expose its shortcomings too.
When trying to promote informal knowledge sharing, there will be a need to assess both its
merits and shortcomings to enable formal decisions.
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