Knowledge Acquisition in Practice

This is the first book to provide a step-by-step guide to the methods and practical aspects of acquiring, modelling, storing and sharing knowledge. The reader is led through 47 steps from the inception of a project to its conclusion. Each is described in terms of reasons, required resources, activities, and solutions to common problems. In addition, each step has a checklist which tracks the key items that should be achieved.

Dr Nick Milton has worked in the area of knowledge engineering and knowledge acquisition for over 10 years, first as a researcher at the University of Nottingham, then as a consultant Knowledge Engineer, and now as Chief Knowledge Architect at Epistemics Ltd. As a researcher, he worked on the development of techniques taken from AI (for capturing expert knowledge) for their use in Knowledge Management. As a consultant Knowledge Engineer he has worked on multiple knowledge acquisition projects and helped develop and implement methodologies for a number of large organizations. He has provided training and support to many hundreds of knowledge engineers (e.g. in Airbus, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems). He is an expert in the PCPACK software tool and part of its development team. A major thrust of his work has been to maximize the benefits of knowledge engineering to a company while also enabling novice knowledge engineers to learn and apply the approach.