Do you know what you know? As researchers we are faced with a great challenge: the more knowledge we acquire the more difficult it becomes to manage and learn from it. Knowledge management tools and techniques exist to help us solve this problem. Most importantly, they can they can help us share with others what we have learned and learn from others' research and experiences.

For an institution, knowledge management is crucial. High turnover of staff often leads to a loss of more than just labour: know-how. Knowing how to learn from others and share what we know is critical for the success of any research organisation, in particular if it is directed towards the influence of policy and practice.

There are many tools available. the NHS National Electronic Library provides a menu of very useful tools. These have been designed for NHS staff but are easily adapted to most situations. Another source of information is the work carried out the RAPID programme on Knowledge Management, including a literature review. The KM4DEV community is a very useful website to visit for some peer support (a KM tool!).