The Development of Internet- and Intranet-enabled, Enterprise-wide Knowledge Bases: The Case of System Dynamics Applications in the United States Air Force, 1975–2000

摘要

The development of the Internet and related intranets has allowed large enterprises to create valuable knowledge bases containing the results of research (e.g., production process studies for manufacturing firms or marketing studies for computer software companies). The collection of system dynamics applications within and for the United States Air Force between 1975 and 2000 is such a knowledge base. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the unclassified system dynamics literature relating to applications within the US Air Force between 1975 and 2000, and classifies that literature according to such categories as traditional peer-reviewed publication, traditional publication (non-peer reviewed), internal working papers, internet available documents, and intranet (or restricted) materials. The paper empirically documents how the system dynamics-related knowledge base for the USAF is currently distributed between various sources and how well that knowledge base is referenced and cataloged using available reference tools. Additionally, the paper explores how the recent development of the Internet and associated intranet systems for the USAF has influenced the development, distribution, and cataloging of this knowledge base. The paper concludes by speculating on what proportion of the specific system dynamics literature base may be in the readily catalogued public domain and how the development of electronic access technologies over the past 25 years has affected on that accessibility.