We throw around terms like "information worker" and "knowledge worker" all of the time. So a common question I get is "What's the difference between information and knowledge? They're the same thing, right?"
That's a big, fat no. I had the pleasure of having dinner with Larry Prusak, Jonathan Spira, and Dan Rasmus last night -- three heavyweights in the world of knowledge management. Along with several customers and Microsoft folks, we discussed that very question at great lengths.
My conclusion: Knowledge = information + experience.
As an example: If you described a certain person to me, you could tell me their name, how tall they were, what they look like, etc. I have information. When I meet the person, I can experience them, and talk to them, and smell them, and understand what makes them tick. I have knowledge.
Another example (from last night's dinner): Getting and passing along information is much easier now than it was 400 years ago. But is learning a language any easier? Not really. There's more information available, but the learning process isn't any easier. Holding a book on Spanish is having information. Speaking fluently is having knowledge.
One more example: A recipe for making a cheesecake is information. Being able to apply that information and turn it into a nice dessert? That's knowledge.
I have one more example around sex, but I'll leave that one off the blog... 
I recently got a question regarding the ability to filter out folders from search results (but to still search inside those folders for documents) in MOSS 2007.
It's pretty simple. You'll need to create a scope with two exclusion rules, assuming you're crawling both file shares and SharePoint sites (one for file share folders and one for document library folders):
1) Go into Search Settings -> Metadata Property Mappings
a. Scroll to the “IsDocument” property and select “Edit/Map Property” from the drop-down menu; check “Allow this property to be used in scopes”
b. Do the same with the "ContentType" property
2) Create a new scope (called “NoFolders” or whatever) and add three rules:
a. Content Source = All Content
b. IsDocument=0 (make that one an exclusion rule) - this is for file share folders
c. ContentType=Folder (also an exclusion rule) - this is for sharepoint document library folders
3) Run a scope update to refresh the scope contents
4) Do a search on a term that returns a folder (Say, “office”); then try another, specifying the scope like this – “office scope:nofolders” (this search should not return folders)
5) If you want that new scope to be the default (so users don’t have to specify the scope), you can set the scope property of the search results web part on the results.aspx page to use that new scope (or you can create a new tab on the search center page)
Thanks to everyone who attended my sessions on Monday at the SharePoint Connections conference in Orlando. I got some fantastic questions on the new search capabilities of MOSS 2007. We covered content sources, search scopes, custom tabs, duplicate collapsing, custom search web parts, and a number of other features. We also reviewed how to influence relevance and how SharePoint search has really come a long way!
As promised, I've posted my slides. You can download them here: click to download slides. I will follow this post with the custom search web part code and the Excel services code in the next day or two.
In case you need a good book on MOSS 2007 with your favorite Irish beer...here's one that I personally recommend!
Essential SharePoint® 2007 focuses relentlessly on utilizing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to improve collaboration and decision-making, streamline processes, and solve real-world business problems. Three leading SharePoint consultants systematically address the crucial success factors, intangibles, and "gotchas" in SharePoint deployment, helping you maximize value and reduce risk.The authors walk you through planning and architecting successful SharePoint solutions around your business, hands-on. Next, they address the operational support and end-user functionality needed to make SharePoint 2007 work — with special attention to make-or-break organizational and political issues. Coverage includes: Defining collaboration strategies; building attractive, usable applications; architecting infrastructure; leveraging SharePoint content management and business intelligence; migrating from SharePoint 2003, and much more. Essential SharePoint® 2007 was written for everyone involved in SharePoint 2007 projects: IT and line managers, consultants, analysts, project leaders, and developers
www.awprofessional.com/titles/0321421744
Need to ramp up on Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)? Interested in IT Pro and Developer topics for SharePoint?
Come to Microsoft's Waltham office this Saturday, February 24th, from 8:30 to 6:00 PM. A great set of community speakers will be presenting on WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. The goal is that folks will leave with what is possible with SharePoint, get started on a new implementation of a SharePoint solution, or extend an existing one.
Check out: http://www.sharepointguy.com/SharePointCodeCamp07/default.aspx.
Make sure you check out the next NERSUG meeting - February 27, 2007: Advanced Workflow with MOSS 2007 by Scott McKeon
5:45 - 6:00 Registration
6:00 - 7:15 Advanced Workflow with SharePoint Server 2007 by Scott McKeon
Join us and learn about advanced workflow capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. With Office SharePoint Server 2007, you can initiate and interact with workflows right from within your Microsoft Office application. You can also collect and validate important document metadata via the document information panel.
About Our Speaker
Scott McKeon is a Senior Consultant at Clearway Technology Partners, and is focused on Information Worker solutions. He is currently engaged in customizing and deploying a MOSS 2007 portal solution for a Fortune 500 company that leverages SharePoint's process management capabilities. Scott has over 22 years experience developing mission-critical enterprise applications. He co-founded XBR Company, which produced the industry's leading exception-based loss prevention software.
Where Microsoft Corporation - 201 Jones Road (6th floor), Waltham, MA 02451
The meeting is free, but space is limited. To register or sign-up for our email distribution list, send an email to NERSUG Registration.
Thanks to everyone who attended the Windows Vista and Office SharePoint Server 2007 Search session at the Boston Launch event on Wednesday.
Enterprise Search and Desktop Search are important topics these days; make sure you have all of the information you need to make an informed decision. Things like privacy policies, out-of-box support for security trimming, and your ability to control the search technologies using policies are important aspects of search that are not to be overlooked.
If your organization is in the New England area and is thinking about enterprise search, feel free to give me a shout to discuss your options.
If you're at all interested in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Vista, or Exchange Server 2007, be sure to check out the launch events being held all over the country.
Attendees will receive a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and Microsoft Office Groove 2007.
There will be a number of breakout sessions (I will be speaking at two of these -- search and records management). You can also test drive the products and evaluate their functionality, network with peers, and meet local technology partners.
Sign up here: http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/signup/default.mspx
When you publish an InfoPath form to MOSS 2007 (or forms server) through administrative mode, you can point to the form via a URL so that users can fill out the form from virtually anywhere. You can also do things like set a redirect page so that when the user is done filling out the form, the browser redirects the user to a workflow initiation screen or some other useful location.
Here are the query string parameters that control behavior in InfoPath Web Forms:
XsnLocation - What form to open and from where
XmlLocation - What initial data to use
OpenIn - Open in browser / client / either
SaveLocation - Save Location for data
Source - Navigate URL when form is closed
Example: http://MOSS2007/_layouts/formserver.aspx?xsnlocation=/formservertemplates/loanapplication.xsn&openin=browser&source=http://redirectpage
I get a lot of questions regarding the specific capabilities of SharePoint depending on what flavor is chosen. This spreadsheet does a great job of providing an at-a-glance feature matrix for:
- WSS 3.0
- SPS 2003
- MOSS 2007 for Search
- Office Forms Server 2007
- MOSS 2007 Standard CAL
- MOSS 2007 Enterprise CAL
- MOSS 2007 for Internet Sites
It breaks down the features by collaboration, portal, search, content management, forms, BI, management, and platform.
It seems that every other day I have a discussion with someone on the topic of Rich Desktop vs Web 2.0 (also known as Smart Client applications vs Web applications, Rich vs Reach, and several other names). The idea is that browser-based applications are getting good enough that you don't need locally-installed software. I've tried living on web-only versions of certain applications -- I never want to try that again. The power of having rich user interfaces, offline data, and complete use of the local processing power is something I do not want to live without. That doesn't mean that web applications aren't good - they come in handy sometimes.
Specifically, I like the approach that provides a rich, reach, and mobile version of an application.
For example, Outlook is available as:
- Office Outlook 2007 (best option, period - fast, works offline, search is amazingly good, etc)
- Outlook Web Access (great for getting a nice form factor when I don't have my laptop)
- Outlook Mobile Access (great when I only have my Windows Mobile phone)
Looking at these three options for email, I realize that I use the rich client about 70% of the time, the mobile client about 25% of the time, and the web client about 5% of the time. That varies for applications outside of email -- for example, I use the rich IM client (Office Communicator) about 90% of the time, the mobile client about 10% of the time, and never use the web client.
Steve Richards does a good job of explaining why he prefers his desktop over a pure Web 2.0 environment: http://steves.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/8/2559313.html
I echo his sentiment that "...web 2.0 is a complement to the desktop, not a replacement."
What do you think? Will Web 2.0 take over completely? I can't possibly see giving up my rich experience to browser-only applications.
I've been using a variety of collabortaion tools lately that have drastically cut down on the number of emails I send and receive each day.
For example, I've been using Groove to exchange PowerPoint decks with my colleagues. It's great for large files since only the diffs get synchronized and I always have the files I need locally. And Groove syncs with SharePoint, so when I get my updates completed, everyone within Microsoft can find my new deck via SharePoint's enterprise search.
I've also been using Office Communicator to IM with folks both inside and outside of Microsoft rather than volleying a half-dozen emails back and forth.
But I think I still get too many emails, as is evident by my most recently received message...but at least I still have 1MB of space left. 
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Copyright © 2008 Scott Jamison. All rights reserved.
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