Experience-Oriented Knowledge Organisation for the Transference of Scientific Knowledge from Universities to SMEs

Transferring scientific knowledge between universities and industry is known to be problematic, specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have limited resources and absorption capacity. A variety of channels is used for knowledge transfer. These include what is commonly referred to as generic pathways (e.g. scientific publishing) and relational pathways (e.g. faculty consulting). The purpose of this research is to extend our knowledge about the design of generic pathways. The analysis is concentrated on the knowledge organisation system for a research management system - how to meet the characteristics of SMEs in the design of subject categories in the navigation system and in the presentation of the scientific knowledge by controlled and uncontrolled keywords and descriptive annotations. The design suggestions are based on findings from a qualitative situation analysis of eight SMEs and on the principles of experience design. Experiential design principles have been applied, because the classical design qualities such as utility and usability seem not to be sufficient goals for the generic pathway. The paper provides examples and discusses how the experiential dimensions have been applied in the design of the knowledge organisation system for the generic pathway.