Broadband and Me

Networks of Practice

elearningpost

New Book: Knowledge Networks: Innovation through Communities of Practice
"There have been a large number of academic papers about Communities of Practice but, so far, only a few books. Most of the books have, by necessity, taken a rather theoretical approach. This book however will examine CoPs from a practical viewpoint; it is directed at the general reader rather than a specialist audience. Our aim is to draw on the experience of people who have researched and worked with CoPs in the real world and to present their views in a form that is accessible to a broad audience."

Interesting. Despite its sauggestion that it is a practical book, the link feels rather academic and describes online communities of practice as the next step forward. They coin the term Networks of Practice to describe this. Great idea but haven't people being doing this for some time? Take this book which outlines BP KM programme. Chris Collinson and Geoff Purcell describe a global network of practice. I have also heard similar stories concerning Shell and pharmaceutical companies.

Something about this book just turned my cynical antenna on...

If you want to know more about Communities of Practice its probably worth starting at David Gurteen's site.