Twenty years ago, the big rage in computers was data management. Insurance companies, banks, courts, and other institutions took mountains of information and turned it into coded data which allowed individuals to access this information electronically. This mountain of information has exploded. The first symptom of information overload is being overwhelmed by the mass of information. The second symptom of overload is the inability to quickly access the information when it will help you.
Information management is the mechanical process of collecting, exchanging and analyzing data.
Information management is dumb, while knowledge management is smart. Knowledge management is the glue that will hold together computer information for lawyers and for judges. Lawyers and judges are primarily decision-makers. Both have assistants which aide in the decision making process. Each decision-making unit depends upon a base of knowledge to make a decision.