I just found this thought-provoking and original sixteen page article by Lilia Efimova, the author of Mathemagenic. It is entitled: Discovering the iceberg of knowledge work: A weblog case and is available as a pdf. Here are some immediately interesting excerpts:
The term knowledge work has been used for decades, but to date there is not much understanding of what knowledge workers do and how this work can be improved.
...exploring use of weblogs for professional purposes: as personal knowledge repositories, learning journals or networking instruments...
...knowledge management practice, once technology-driven, is starting to recognise that having knowledge bases or virtual community tools is not enough to ensure active participation and knowledge sharing...
Unlike physical work, knowledge work is unique and difficult to standardise: knowledge workers are autonomous and almost impossible to control (Drucker, 1999)...
...weblogs address interests and needs of their authors, but they also create an opportunity for others to benefit from having emergent ideas and personal notes captured in public spaces instead of private collections...
...Personal relations are vital for sharing knowledge (Cross, Parker, Prusak, & Borgatti, 2001), but the time spent building and maintaining personal networks is hardly taken into account (Nardi, Whittaker, & Schwarz, 2003)...
...what makes weblogs different is not the publication of content per-se, but the personalities behind them. Weblogs are increasingly becoming on-line identities of their authors...
...one thing that excites so many bloggers lays hidden from the occasional reader: blogging is learning about oneself and developing connections with others...
Lilia Efimova rocks! Don't miss the other valuable insights in this piece. It's so readable and exciting that I just added *knowledge work* as a new category.