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¹Department of Information Technology & Operations Management, Florida Atlantic University, Reubin O'D. Askew Tower, 220 SE 2nd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

²Department of Computer Information Systems, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA

³Department of MIS and Decision Science, Texas A&M International University, USA

Correspondence to: Stuart D. Galup, Department of Information Technology & Operations Management, Florida Atlantic University, Reubin O'D. Askew Tower, 220 SE 2nd Avenue, FL, 33301, USA. Tel: +1 954 762 5616; fax: +1 954 762 5245 E-mail: sgalup@fau.edu

⁴Each author contributed equally to the paper.

One of the difficulties in knowledge management is that knowledge sources are widely distributed and exist in many forms. Earl's taxonomy (2001) of knowledge management systems, particularly, the Technocratic school - Systems, Cartographic, and Engineering, is described to provide a context for discussing the different types of knowledge management systems. To support these different types of knowledge sources, we describe an Enterprise Knowledge Dictionary (EKD) and the supporting n-tier architecture that allows access too many types of knowledge though a common interface. The EKD provides a knowledge portal that allows the knowledge seeker to locate and access the various types of knowledge for a domain of interest from a single source. In addition to facilitating knowledge reuse, the EKD is used for evaluation and planning of knowledge management activities within the firm. An n-tier architecture that both optimizes knowledge management implementations and minimizes the load on transaction processing systems is outlined.

Knowledge Management Research & Practice (2003) 1, 95-101. doi:10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500013

Information systems; knowledge management system; technology management; client/server computing; knowledge-based systems; knowledge repository