The result of our research in Knowledge Management within this project is a software tool - MailTack - that makes e-mail conversation as easy and powerful as face-to-face conversa-tions eliminating the need for same-time and same-place meetings and adding the advantages of concentration on one medium, real-time overview and trace-ability. Conversation is essential to individual learning, teamwork, collaborative learning and for building learning communities, as it is through conversation that we create, develop, validate and share knowledge. But when conversa-tion takes place as computer-mediated conversation (CMC) it becomes cumbersome, particularly among more participants, lacks transparency, looses coherence tending towards drift and dissolution after few interactions. With MailTack we address the mentioned problems with the goal of improving asynchronous communication by applying knowledge management principles. The functionality provided by MailTack is based on the new concept of an E-Mail knowledge base called MailKB that is stored in a relational DBMS, structured by association networks and visualised graphically by means of mind-mapping network graphs.
MailTack has been developed in the context of an ESPRIT call (Esprit research project EP28928,
http://www.know-net.org) in which one main goal was to support individuals in developing their learning capabilities. Our approach for contributing to this goal with MailTack was then to support individuals in becoming more efficient and effective in 'knowledge work' by enhancing the visibility and transparency of the knowledge that they apply or develop in working, learning and sharing. For identifying a relevant kind of support we considered that when managing knowledge work, a central issue consists in figuring out what the individual already knows: for this reason one major objective was to allow the user to make an Individual Knowledge Assessment (IKA) on a continuous basis as an implementation of our 'trace your tack' principle. We also considered that when doing knowledge work, two salient properties are: 1) communication with other professionals and 2) the ability and willingness to share knowledge. Both skills can be greatly improved and developed if the individual engages in conversations (discussions): for this reason the second main objective was to allow the user to do persistent asynchronous conversations. Our conception of the MailTack tool has been influenced by related work done by J. Donath at MIT, Thomas Erickson at IBM Watson Research Center and A. Abecker at DFKI. Software tools that have been a source of inspiration include the 'KARAT' tool by DFKI and 'The Brain' by Natrificial LLC which both should enable its user to 'use your computer the way you use your mind - intuitively'.
We have developed MailTack as a tool for Persistent Business Discussions combined with an Individual Knowledge Assessment that promotes such skills as accumulating relevant knowledge bits, accessing those bits of knowledge, much of which one does not immediately remember, mapping and storing knowledge in a more manageable way, reusing what I know, sharing what I know, ensuring that what I say is interpreted the way I intend, negotiating and structuring controversy, etc. By helping in this way the involved individuals in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their asynchronous conversations we think that MailTack could contribute to make collaborative learning and asynchronous coaching or tutoring more successful and attractive thus facilitating the building of learning communities.
