The Knowledge Level in Expert Systems: Conversations and Commentary

these ideas are revisited in a profile of the soi disanf learning organization. Sandwiched between chapters 1 and 8 are competent discussions of a process approach to information management, a review of research into information users, a reconceptualization of environmental scanning as organizational learning (the book’s leitmotif), a repackaging of case studies (including some already over-exposed earlier work by Choo and Auster) illustrating corporate approaches to environmental scanning, and a desultory section on the management of information resources. The book is well designed and the graphics crisply presented. “Information management for the intelligent organization” is not, however, without its faults. First, the author’s writing style leaves a lot to be desired. His keenness to use vogue terminology sometimes suggests a less than complete grasp of the concepts involved. One wonders what is meant by the phrase “sources effectively ‘feed’ on and off each other in an ecology of information chains” (p.xiv), or by this periphrastic gem: “In an act of knowledge creation, organizational information weaves through layers of tacit, rulebased, and background knowledge that stitch the cognitive fabric of the organization” (p.45). Or, again: “The use of information for knowledge production is unfurled through social interactions dispersed over space and time” (p-46). The “chaff of noisy information” (p.51) dogs this volume and detracts from the overall effect, as do the all too frequent solecistic lapses. Choo deserved a better editor. Although he has done a commendable job in synthesizing a wide variety of material, one comes away with the feeling that Choo’s greatest strength is his ability to exploit others’ ideas (nay, language) and repurpose his own research results. That said, this is, on balance, a useful textbook which marries perspectives from information studies, business strategy, and organizational theory.