Episode 17: Barisa Abdifatah - Librarians, Knowledge and the Human Side of KM
In this episode of the Shush-Free Zone host Dawn Brushammar talks with Barisa Abdifatah, a knowledge management consultant, educator and certified knowledge manager, about the strong connection between librarianship and KM.
Topics include reference interviews, taxonomy, ontology, research and information literacy and they also explore the knowledge that doesn't fit neatly into a database: tacit knowledge, conversations, communities of practice and the relationships between people.
And because this is the Shush-Free Zone, Dawn and Barisa talk about why librarians are much more than people who organize books, the problem with “best practices,” and translating meaning across cultures. And of course the usual lightning round questions.
About Barisa:
Barisa Abdifatah is the Director of Knowledge Management at STRATactical International, where she drives strategy, operations, and client solutions that deliver measurable impact. She applies proven KM practices, such as Knowledge Cafés, Knowledge Transfer and Retention, Communities of Practice, and Organizational Network Analysis to drive collaboration, innovation, and better decision-making. She also recently joined the KMI CKM Instructor Team, in addition to George Mason University ODKM co-facilitator team, and Northern Virginia Community College ESL Instructors.
With over twenty years of global experience in academia and professional settings, Barisa has worked as an educator, administrator, translator (English/Arabic), and librarian. She is passionate about building people-centered KM frameworks that unite process and technologyfor sustainable value.
Barisa holds a Bachelor's in English Language and Literature and a Master's in Library and Information Science. She is a Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM), Certified Knowledge Specialist in Organization Development (CKS-OD), Certified AI Manager (CAIM), certified educator with a Certificate for English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), and upcoming Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Barisa Abdifatah, CKM, MLIS | LinkedIn