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empowered by policies on how to handle those who abuse the facility. The benefit of
discussion boards and listservs suggest that it worth training or hiring a good facilitator to be
able to reap full advantage from them.
Training in order to ensure employees are familiar with new IT systems and processes will
improve their abilities to create and share knowledge. Some applications may seem so
familiar and basic and it is taken for granted that people know how to use them. Knowledge
sharing goes further, beyond the basic application of IT systems. It needs proper training
especially on how technology can facilitate the retrieval of information and its distribution.
Staff need to be aware of the recent technologies, what new capabilities have been added and
what IT can achieve and what it cannot achieve. Training should cover demonstration of all
advantages of any new system over existing ones. With the absence of more sophisticated
technologies, staff perceptions may go further beyond what IT can deliver and make staff
reluctant to explore the existing systems due to underestimation of them.
Technology has come now to help libraries improve their practices. What was not possible
before the introduction of computers is now possible with computers. Technology can
facilitate Tanzania public university libraries to use multimedia for adding video clips or
voice to databases or problem and solution databases whereby librarians can interact online
with users helping them solving their problem or finding their way to the mass of information
in libraries. Traditional library practices can be very much enhanced through computers
whereby a limited card catalogue for instance may be enriched with more information
through annotations and qualifiers. Technology provides easy access to experts just by a click
one may be able to send an email and receive feedback from an expert. The transfer of tacit
knowledge is made easy through technology. When people see how something is done then it
is easy for them to understand. Programs come with help manuals and make their use a little
bit more easy and effective. Computer networking has facilitated interaction not just between
people but between people and machines.
4.4. Chapter summary
This section summarized what is found in the field. It started by showing how knowledge is
shared where it was found that only formal strategies are used. To make the further
discussion easy to follow, the implications of formal KS in the absence of informal KS was
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