Claire R. McInerney,
Ph.D.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The focus of my research is on understanding how technology is used in organizations to help people work more effectively. Currently, Professor McInerney is involved in the following Knowledge Management research projects: Knowledge Management and Health Care; Knowledge Flow from the Lab to the Lay Person: A Case Study Based on Biotechnology Food; Human Computer Interface: Expanding to Nontraditional Markets and Virtual Ennis: the Information Age Town.
Knowledge Management and Health Care
The health promoting effects of primary care are acknowledged worldwide, and yet primary care clinicians are faced with daunting challenges. An aging population, co-existing conditions, more diversity in populations, burgeoning information demands, incomplete and uncertain information, and financial constraints are just a few of the factors that add complexity to providing quality health care. Knowledge Management (KM) may provide a predictive model to help create relationships and knowledge flow in primary health care to provide a more effective means of making decisions, task execution, and individual and organizational learning.
Knowledge Transfer and Website Quality in Food and Agriculture
A SCILS team has collaborated with researchers at Rutgers' agricultural school on two projects funded by the US Department of Agriculture -- one relates to knowledge transfer about genetically modified food, and the other about information seeking and knowledge transfer related to food safety and security. The focus of the research has been on knowledge objects placed on web sites and the quality of the web sites that everyday life information seekers use to learn and create knowledge.
Knowledge Flow from the Lab to the Lay Person: A Case Study Based on Biotechnology Food
How is the knowledge gained by research scientists shared with the general public? There are a number of venues the public uses to gain information that eventually becomes integrated as knowledge: broadcast media, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. The discourse in these venues on the topic of Biotechnology Food is being analyzed by a team of researchers at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS) at Rutgers University in conjunction with the Food Policy Institute and other researchers at universities in the US and in Europe. The larger study: Public Perceptions of Genetically Modified Foods is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. William Hallman, Principal Investigator.
Human Computer Interface: Expanding to Nontraditional Markets
This project is underway with the long-term objective being to develop guidelines for the design of human computer interfaces that appeal to under-represented groups of users in the technology market, both women and minorities. The short-term objective is to discover how women can incorporate technology into their everyday academic experience. Funded by a Strategic Resource Opportunity Analysis (SROA) grant at Rutgers University, the study is using a multi-method approach to learn how women students are using technology in their academic work and how their technology use differs from their men colleagues. The research is also investigating the types of computer interfaces that women students prefer and the kind of computer design and devices they would like to use in the future. The project team is composed of:
Dry. Ellen F. Mappen, Director, Douglass Project
Dr. Helen M. Buettner, Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Dr. Claire R. McInerney, Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
Ms. Linda Gallo, Graduate Student, Department of Library and Information Science
Ms. Jennifer Sloane, Graduate Student, School of Education
Ms. Hai-Ning Chiang, Graduate Student, Environmental Sciences
Knowledge Management Resources
For a list of further reading, please consult Professor McInerney's resource list for web sites, bibliographies, and books on Knowledge Management.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,
USA
4 Huntington
Street,
New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901
Tel: 732-932-7500 Extension 8218; Fax: 732-932-6916
Office:
SCILS 330 Email:clairemc at rutgers.edu
© 2007