Conclusions
Compendium contributes to the process of knowledge management
Minimize subjectivity by bringing rigor
Continual process of keeping it up to date
Evaluating its usefulness
Notes:
- In concluding, there are a few key points I want to leave you with to think about on this day
- We live in an age where the volume information is so great that no one person can absorb it all. The value of a compendium is that it contributes to the process of knowledge management.
- Program managers in the field often do not have the time or the capacity to consult the volumes of periodicals in a university library or do extensive web searches where you can easily hit or miss valuable information.
- A compendium of “Best Practices” is a tool that gives ownership back to the Program Manager who can use it to make strategic decisions for their program.
- All that I have told you about risk and evidence and organizational frameworks may seem at first a very complex way to think about Best Practices.
- What the Pyramid accomplishes is to minimize subjectivity and bring a rigorous standard to this process of knowledge management.
- With all the changing developments in the field, we can no longer afford to create anthologies and compilations where the only criteria is that it “worked”.
- Building a compendium also comes with the responsibility of continuously keeping it up to date.
- As interventions and the field are constantly changing, a Compendium using the criteria and format we have described needs consistent updates.
- Advance Africa is still grappling with this idea of continuous “compendium building”.
- One idea Advance Africa is considering is a formation of a Peer review board such as is used by the medical field to be a standard for evaluating new developments. The Review Board would be responsible for evaluating new entries, and re-evaluating old ones to regularly maintain the standards of the compendium.