1 Knowledge Management in University e-Learning Activities Support Jaroslava Mikulecká, Peter Mikulecký Faculty of Informatics and Management University of Hradec Králové Víta Nejedlého 573 500 03 Hradec Králové Czech Republic Jaroslava.Mikulecka@uhk.cz; Peter.Mikulecky@uhk.cz Abstract As universities have been traditionally the sites of knowledge production, storage, and dissemination, a substantial role here can play knowledge management approaches. eLearning could be a naturally used technique at a university, based on its knowledge management. However, most eLearning companies (and especially universities among them) have failed to master the theory and practice of knowledge management. In our paper we wish to point out on some related problems, and show certain solutions leading to an efficient e-learning activities support. Keywords University knowledge management, eLearning, tools. 1. Introduction Recently, various organizations started to introduce at least some pieces of the big palette of knowledge management principles, methods, or tools. We are deeply convinced that using of these approaches could be beneficial not only in the case of large enterprises, but also in a university environment. Some arguments on behalf of this we have already presented in (Mikulecká and Mikulecký 2000), (Mikulecký and Mikulecká 2003a), (Mikulecký and Mikulecká 2003b) or (Mikulecký 2002). Knowledge management is recently not only a fashionable buzzword, but it has already proven its usability and usefulness for many organizations. Frequently it is stressed that eLearning and knowledge management are two sides of the same coin, but usually it is not clear, what is still eLearning and from where already begins knowledge management, or vice versa. The distinction just mentioned could be considered not to be especially important, however it could be useful. We presented some results in this direction recently in (Mikulecký 2003a), and we are going to enrich them in what follows. 2. Knowledge Management for eLearning eLearning is usually based on Virtual Learning Environments usage. These systems are not primarily constructed as knowledge management systems; however, according to (Ravet 2002) they easily can play that role. The argument for that is, that there are courses where most of the learning material has not been statically designed just for this learning purpose, but is the result of previous group activities, each group building on existing knowledge and adding newly produced knowledge. Learning environments could profit from some knowledge management techniques, such as data mining, finding patterns, automated analytic processes, or visualisation techniques.