Explicit knowledge

{{Short description|Type of knowledge}} [[File:Wikipedia_and_Encyclopædia_Britannica.jpg|thumb| Laptop displaying the Wikipedia article for "Encyclopedia" next to 15th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica showing the same article.]] '''Explicit knowledge''' (also '''expressive knowledge''')<ref>L. C. Jain, ''Virtual Environments for Teaching and Learning'', World Scientific, 2002, p. 179.</ref> is knowledge that can be readily articulated, conceptualized , codified, formalized, stored and accessed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Helie|first1=Sebastien|last2=Sun|first2=Ron|title=Incubation, Insight, and Creative Problem Solving: A Unified Theory and a Connectionist Model|journal=Psychological Review|date=2010|volume=117|issue=3|pages=994–1024|doi=10.1037/a0019532|pmid=20658861|url=http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/~rsun/folder-files/helie-sun-psycrev2010-f.pdf|access-date=2019-09-24|archive-date=2019-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712082025/http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/~rsun/folder-files/helie-sun-psycrev2010-f.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It can be expressed in formal and systematic language and shared in the form of data, scientific formulae, specifications, manuals and such like.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nonaka |first=Ikujiro |last2=Toyama |first2=Ryoko |last3=Konno |first3=Noboru |date=2000 |title=SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0024-6301(99)00115-6 |journal=Long Range Planning |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=5–34 |doi=10.1016/s0024-6301(99)00115-6 |issn=0024-6301|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is easily codifiable and thus transmittable without loss of integrity once the syntactical rules required for deciphering it are known.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kogut |first=Bruce |last2=Zander |first2=Udo |date=1992 |title=Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.3.3.383 |journal=Organization Science |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=383–397 |doi=10.1287/orsc.3.3.383 |issn=1047-7039|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Most forms of explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is often seen as complementary to tacit knowledge.<ref name="Nonaka">{{cite journal|last1= Ikujiro |first1= Nonaka |title= The Knowledge-Creating Company |journal= Harvard Business Review |date= 2007 }}</ref>

Explicit knowledge is often seen as easier to formalize compared to tacit knowledge, but both are necessary for knowledge creation. Nonaka and Takeuchi introduced the SECI model as a framework for knowledge creation. The SECI model involves four stages where explicit and tacit knowledge interact with each other in a spiral manner. The four stages are: * Socialization, from tacit to tacit knowledge * Externalization, from tacit to explicit knowledge * Combination, from explicit to explicit knowledge * Internalization, from explicit to tacit knowledge.<ref name="Nonaka">{{cite journal|last1= Ikujiro |first1= Nonaka |title= The Knowledge-Creating Company |journal= Harvard Business Review |date= 2007 }}</ref>

== Examples == The information contained in encyclopedias and textbooks are good examples of explicit knowledge, specifically declarative knowledge. The most common forms of explicit knowledge are manuals, documents, procedures, and how-to videos. Knowledge also can be audio-visual. Engineering works and product design can be seen as other forms of explicit knowledge where human skills, motives and knowledge are externalized.

In the scholarly literature, papers presenting an up-to-date "systemization of knowledge" (SoK) on a particular area of research are valuable resources for PhD students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Systemization of Knowledge (SoK) Papers |url=https://www.jsys.org/type_SoK/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=www.jsys.org}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * National Library for Health - [https://web.archive.org/web/20090210202932/http://www.library.nhs.uk/KnowledgeManagement/SearchResults.aspx?tabID=289&catID=10397 Knowledge Management Specialist Library] - collection of resources about auditing intellectual capital.

Category:Knowledge Category:Cognitive psychology