Organizational knowledge sharing, information literacy and sustainability: Two case studies from local government

Abstract

Sustainability goals are at the center of a range of local government initiatives in Australia. Such initiatives are often developed in response to community needs and to the broader needs of urban greening. This study takes a sociocultural approach to two such initiatives, one involving intra-organizational and the other inter-organizational knowledge sharing and applies a framework of information literacy activities to the analysis of participant’s knowledge sharing experiences. This framework was supported by the findings though Influencing and Sharing were more prominent than Information work and Coupling activities. Sharing activities became the norm in the study, underpinned by the expectation that the expertise of participants would be validated and incorporated into the collaborative endeavor. Expression of emotion was minimal when the normative nature of this activity was highlighted however emotions were experienced when the norm was not being followed and when participants believed that their contribution was not being validated.