We use the phrase "Knowledge Base Publishing" to describe the integration of print, Web, database, and social media publishing techniques in a business context. Integration involves both editorial and technical issues. While traditional publishing is linear and segmented, knowledge base publishing is web-like, interconnected, and integrated into the user's work flow.

The Knowledge Base Publisher is the business person responsible for the bottom line impact of the content creation lifecycle, from content creation and promotion to knowledge deployment and maintenance. The Publisher's primary focus is increasing knowledge worker productivity and adding shareholder value — i.e. lower costs, lower risk, increased revenues. The actual implementation is carried out by Knowledge Base Editors.

Role of the Knowledge Base Editor
The Knowledge Base Editor's role is to acquire, verify, organize, promote, and deploy the information in a knowledge base system. The Editor's job begins, not with the content, but with the users (audience) and the tasks they want to perform. The implication is that there are multiple editors, each of whom has an intimate understanding of their users and business processes. They are fluent in print, Web, and database publishing processes. They are boundary spanners who know how to identify and cultivate subject matter experts. They are architects who can create publishing standards, policies, and metadata schema.

To perform in the Knowledge Base Editor's role, information professionals need to know how to:

• Create and apply a business taxonomy to make content and people "findable" and produce consistent, comprehensive reports;

• Integrate taxonomies to bridge the conceptual gaps between two domains (e.g. doctors and patients or R&D and marketing);

• Create a way of managing metadata that is both efficient and responsive to the many "world views" present in most large organizations.

• Teach information management skills to knowledge workers and advise business unit managers on knowledge base strategies (see Forthcoming events).

The Knowledge Base Editor-in-Chief
Although most Knowledge Base Editors work at the department or business unit level, there is a role for an enterprise Editor-in-Chief. This person works with senior managers and business unit editors to create:

• standardized names for corporate departments, products, and geographic regions;
• an organization scheme for information of interest to all employees;
• an enterprise thesaurus that maps key information among departments and business units;
• tools, training, and advisory services for authors and local editors;
• incentives for information sharing, such as departmental training programs, job competencies, and compensation guidelines;
• new opportunities for revenue generation.

In other words, while the information technology function provides the technical infrastructure for search, retrieval, and collaboration, the knowledge base editing function provides the intellectual infrastructure. Both types of infrastructure must be integrated for maximum productivity.