Welcome to KNOWvember!

Many UK government departments and agencies will be using November as a time to share important messages about Government Knowledge and Information Management (GKIM) to colleagues across their organisations. CILIP’s Government Information Group (GIG) will also be taking part, and this blog posting outlines how.  

Why KNOWvember? 

KNOWvember is an opportunity to raise the profile of GKIM within organisations, share good practice, provide training, establish connections, and to generally encourage colleagues to reflect on and improve their own IM and KM skills. KNOWvember could also be a valuable time to continue to build connections and share knowledge between the different disciplines within GKIM ( e.g. data protection, freedom of information, environmental Information, records management, information management, librarianship, knowledge management, information asset ownership, information architecture and governance).  

In usual government cycles and timetables November may also be a great opportunity to devote time for professional development. Civil Servants will be working at pace, with business as usual and project work, and hopefully there won’t be too many “new asks” to significantly alter plans. The longer evenings, and less of a calling for some of us to be outside, might also help in being more actively drawn to training, development and time for reflection.  As we approach the calendar year end there may also be an incentive to make that “final sprint” and to actively bolster the training and development that we’ve undertaken and provided across the year.  

How is GIG supporting KNOWvember? 

The more you KNOW(vember): sharing the successes of GIG's annual award winners

We will be running a webinar – The more you KNOW(vember): sharing the successes of GIG's annual award winners. Book here https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1995305&group=  Wednesday 12 November, 12 noon (GMT). (This event is for CILIP members only). We will hear from our two 2025 Annual Award winners: 

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Information Management Team, on implementing the revised Government Security Classifications Policy.  
• Welsh Government colleagues will also review their successful, low budget, resource-reusing “Year of KIM” initiative. 

KNOWvember blog posts

We will be making a series of blog posts across KNOWvember, reminding you about some of the great nuggets of knowledge management wisdom shared with GIG previously. 

Let’s get started! 

We kick-off on a more general, “back to basics” share. Looking back to 2016 and the Knowledge Principles developed by GKIM practitioners working with The National Archives. Knowledge principles - The National Archives. The seven Principles remind us of the value of knowledge, how work and intent are required to capture it, the importance of organisational culture and leadership in promoting environments for knowledge development and sharing, and that knowledge underpins both individual and organisational learning. The Principles are: 

• Knowledge is a valued asset 
• Knowledge needs the right environment in order to thrive 
• Knowledge is captured where necessary and possible 
• Knowledge is freely sought and shared 
• Knowledge increases in value through re-use 
• Knowledge underpins individual learning 
• Knowledge underpins organisational learning.  

You can find out more about each principle at the link provided above.  

Get in touch! 

GIG will be delighted to hear from you about your KNOWvember initiatives, successes and experiences! How did KNOWvember work for you? What worked well, and what would you change in future? Were there any surprises or unanticipated benefits along the way? Please, do share your experiences and help to contribute to the overall impact and success of KNOWvember. We look forward to hearing from you at secretary.gig@cilip.org.uk.