K

K, KB

See [kilobyte]

keyboard shortcuts

Many people prefer to use keyboard shortcuts where possible, such as “tabbing” between fields in login screens and forms. Not providing keyboard shortcuts adds unnecessary extra steps for your readers and can also cause serious accessibility problems.

keyword

A keyword is a form of metadata. It’s a relevant word that describes the content in a document, or that describes a particular website and/or section of a website, to facilitate a reader’s search. Keywords are not generally published on the website itself (unless they are included as part of headings) but are embedded in the HTML coding for the website pages using what is called a metatag.

Keywords are very important because most people search for content using one or two keywords, rather than a sentence, title, or phrase.

The danger with keywords is that they are often abused. People use too many keywords and/or irrelevant ones in the hope of bringing more people to the document/website. Remember that the function of keywords is to help the reader find the right document/website, and to help the organization find the right reader. Bringing the wrong reader to the wrong document/website serves the purposes of neither the reader nor the organization.

See also [metatag]

See also [metadata]

kilobyte

A thousand bytes, abbreviated as K, KB, or (less frequently) Kbyte (note that kilobit is abbreviated as Kb).

knowledge

Knowledge is what we know. From an organizational perspective, knowledge represents the intellectual capacity of its staff to carry out tasks that will create value for the organization.

See also [content]

See also [data]

See also [information]

knowledge capital

Knowledge capital, also known as intellectual capital, expresses the intellectual asset worth, as against the physical asset worth, of an organization. Knowledge capital is more important to the success of a modern organization than physical capital.

Knowledge capital exists in two forms. First, it exists within the minds of the people who have knowledge that will make the organization more productive. Its totality is the collective knowledge of the people who have worked for and presently work for the organization. Second, knowledge capital exists as content. Content is the formal “written-down” expression of knowledge capital. Once knowledge capital has been turned into content it becomes far more useful—and valuable—to the modern organization. A classic example of knowledge capital as content is a patent document.

knowledge management (KM)

Knowledge management is the systematic process of managing what an organization knows to create value. There are two essential aspects of knowledge management that are interdependent. First, you have to get people in person-to-person settings or over networks (email, teleconferencing, videoconferencing) to work better together to create and share knowledge. Then, you need to get people to translate their knowledge into content that can then be shared and used in a much wider setting.