The Special Libraries Association (SLA), a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners, announced it will offer its members a new opportunity to earn a knowledge management (KM) certificate. The certificate will be offered through Click University, an online learning system for post-graduate, practicing librarians and information professionals.
Building on the success of the competitive intelligence certificates program offered by SLA’s Click University over the last year, and in response to the changing needs of organizations to better harness and manage the use and application of proprietary and industry information, SLA will offer the KM certificate to members only. The KM certificates program will consist of three different levels of curriculum so that information professionals may choose courses based on their specific function within their organizations.
According the 2007 SLA workplace study and salary survey, KM is one of the highest paid disciplines within the information profession with a median annual salary of $76,000 for respondents in the U.S. who identified KM as their primary area of responsibility. The 7.2 percent increase in 2007 for KM pros in the same position as the previous year (in comparison to the 5.1 percent across-the-board increase for other information professionals same position as last year) demonstrates increased importance being placed on this function, as well as recognition of the significant strategic value KM pros add to an organization.
KM courses will begin in 2008 and will be open to those working towards a full KM certificate and to those SLA members seeking occasional courses to enhance their professional development and expertise. The programs will be appropriate for seasoned KM professionals as well as library and information science (LIS) professionals that are not currently performing a KM function. A third certificate will be a dual certificate combining the two.
Certificate in Knowledge Management
A KM certificate is designed for information professionals and other knowledge workers who are interested in transitioning into a more formal KM role in their organizations or are seeking to learn more about KM in anticipation of a future need for KM expertise in their careers.
Certificate in Knowledge Services
A certificate in Knowledge services is designed for information professionals and other knowledge workers who are interested in bringing the benefits of well-managed information, knowledge and strategic learning delivery into the service of the larger organization. Knowledge services is defined as the convergence of information management, knowledge management and strategic learning and is best thought of as putting knowledge management to work, the practical side of KM.
Certificate in Knowledge Management and Knowledge Services
This third option is designed to provide information professionals and other knowledge workers with the expertise and skills they need for building an enterprise-wide knowledge culture for the organizations in which they are employed. The program combines theoretical and practical approaches to the subject, delivering an end result for the larger enterprise that serves as a framework for measurable and tangible benefits in the utilization of information, knowledge and strategic learning in achieving the corporate or organizational mission.
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