XML sets stage for efficient knowledge management

IT managers use knowledge management (KM) tools to capture maintain, and exploit strategic information that their companies need to conduct business. This information might consist of data describing operational best practices, tactical marketing results such as assessment of a competitor's market share, or even the contents of laboratory notebooks. In every case, preserving the data's context is essential when acquiring, processing, or storing the information. The Extensible Markup Language provides a means for preserving this context. The paper considers how XML provides the context for turning a data set into information; KM provides the tools for managing this information.