Abstract—This paper presents an analytical framework for an effective online personal knowledge management (PKM) of knowledge workers. The development of this framework is prompted by our qualitative research on the PKM processes and cognitive enablers of knowledge workers in eight organisations selected from three main industries in Malaysia. This multiple-case research identifies the relationships between the effectiveness of four online PKM processes: get/retrieve, understand/analyse, share, and connect. It also establishes the importance of cognitive enablers that mediate this relationship, namely, method, identify, decide and drive. Qualitative analysis is presented as the findings, supported by the preceded quantitative analysis on an exploratory questionnaire survey. Keywords—Bottom-up approach, knowledge organisation, organisational knowledge management, personal knowledge management, software agent technology. I. INTRODUCTION EARS after the emergence of personal knowledge management (PKM), there is still a question on whether we are ready for this trend despite the widely used Web 2.0 in managing personal knowledge among technology savvy individuals. The latest study by McFarlane [1] prompted the question of readiness of research community in embracing the PKM concept as part of knowledge management theory. There is no denying that PKM can be defined differently between individuals and across a community, which leads to the importance of knowing what a knowledge worker perceives and understands with the word “personal knowledge”. In general, PKM is a “value management philosophy or approach since the idea is to add value to performance, well-being, and outcome through understanding and applying knowledge which has been effectively treated and efficiently applied systematically to achieve personal and non-personal goals” [1]. Based on this definition, this paper presents the relationship and congruence between PKM (which is enacted by a human and/or technology) and the renowned SECI model (which presents the overall knowledge creation and transformation processes among humans), and how this congruence manifests the emergence of effective PKM that is subconsciously practiced online. S. Ismail is with the Universiti Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (phone: 603-2175- 4435; fax: 603-2175-4001; e-mail: shahrinaz@miit.unikl.edu.my). M. S. Ahmad is with the Universiti Tenaga Nasional – College of Graduate Studies, 43000 Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: sharif@uniten.edu.my). II. RELATED WORKS A. PKM and Knowledge Organisation A recent study on personal knowledge management (PKM) processes in the Malaysian context presents an analysis of how a knowledge worker (i.e. a common employee in general, a researcher specifically) manages personal knowledge. There are four main processes that generalise the way knowledge workers manages knowledge, regardless whether it is for official or personal task, as long as it involves knowledge retrieval, understanding, sharing, and communication. Focusing on the PKM processes across computer and internet tools and technologies, Ismail and Ahmad [2] suggested four main processes: get/retrieve, understand/analyse, share/ publish, and connect (GUSC), which are based on numerous reviews by Grundspenkis [3], Jarche [4], [5], Martin [6], Avery et al. [7], Pettenati et al. [8], and Razmerita et al. [9]. The summary of these reviews are shown in the form of PKM processes flow as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 Comparison of PKM Processes Flow among Authors The PKM processes consist of tasks performed to get/retrieve knowledge (e.g. online search, RSS feed, aggregation, ‘follow’ shared updates), understand/analyse knowledge (e.g. summarise, write research papers), share knowledge (e.g. blog, RSS to blog, share link with reviews, tag people when sharing link, wiki), and connect to other knowledge sources and/or knowledge experts (e.g. from comments by others, from votes by others, from ‘following’ other’s work or profile, email, online messages). Fig. 2 below shows a knowledge worker’s cycle of processes involved in ‘creating knowledge’ by relating each process with the Shahrinaz Ismail, and Mohd Sharifuddin Ahmad Effective Personal Knowledge Management: A Proposed Online Framework Y World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:6, No:12, 2012 3478 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 6(12) 2012 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/12949 International Science Index, Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:6, No:12, 2012 waset.org/Publication/12949