Knowledge management in academic libraries: special tools and processes to support information professionals

This article examines important issues of knowledge management within academic libraries, and how reference librarians can become more effective as information intermediaries. Exploiting knowledge can be a major competitive advantage for libraries, which can translate into better service to users. This article focuses on librarians and the information they use in carrying out the tasks for reference librarianship, and in organizing a multi‐campus library to effectively meet the needs of a large and diverse group of faculty, students, and staff. Specifically, a new tool for managing and using informal knowledge will be described, along with the team‐based approach that was used to develop and introduce the tool into the New Brunswick Libraries at Rutgers University.