A method of authorizing a user profile access request in a knowledge management system, the knowledge management system comprising a server system, the server system comprising a knowledge server and a knowledge repository, wherein the method is performed by the knowledge server of the knowledge management system, the method comprising: detecting an access request from a first user to access a user profile of a second user, wherein the user profile is stored in the knowledge repository, the user profile includes a private portion and a public portion, and the first user is provided an unrestricted access to the public portion and a restricted access to the private portion such that the first user is allowed access to the public portion of the user profile without authorization from the second user and further, the first user is allowed access to the private portion of the user profile based on authorization from the second user, wherein, the user profile comprises one or more knowledge terms and the access request comprises a request term, each knowledge term is indicative of a knowledge base of the second user and stored in one of the public and the private portions of the user profile, and the request term is for comparison to the knowledge terms in the user profile of the second user, wherein, the user profile is constructed by the steps of assigning a confidence level value to each knowledge term in the user profile based on a first quantitative indicator derived from number of occurrences of the knowledge term in an electronic document propagated by the second user, and a second qualitative indicator derived utilising a characteristic of the knowledge term, wherein the confidence level value is indicative of a degree of certainty regarding the knowledge term being indicative of the knowledge base of the second user, wherein the knowledge terms are stored in one of the public portion or the private portion based on the corresponding confidence level values, wherein, detecting the access request comprises detecting a correspondence between the request term and the knowledge term, and determining whether the knowledge term is in the private portion of the user profile; responsive to the access request, automatically generating an authorization request to the second user requesting authorization for access to the user profile by the first user, and only generating the authorization request if the knowledge term is within the private portion of the user profile; and allowing access to at least a portion of the user profile by the first user, in response to a receipt of an access grant from the second user. detecting an access request from a first user to access a user profile of a second user, wherein the user profile is stored in the knowledge repository, the user profile includes a private portion and a public portion, and the first user is provided an unrestricted access to the public portion and a restricted access to the private portion such that the first user is allowed access to the public portion of the user profile without authorization from the second user and further, the first user is allowed access to the private portion of the user profile based on authorization from the second user, wherein, the user profile comprises one or more knowledge terms and the access request comprises a request term, each knowledge term is indicative of a knowledge base of the second user and stored in one of the public and the private portions of the user profile, and the request term is for comparison to the knowledge terms in the user profile of the second user, wherein, the user profile is constructed by the steps of assigning a confidence level value to each knowledge term in the user profile based on a first quantitative indicator derived from number of occurrences of the knowledge term in an electronic document propagated by the second user, and a second qualitative indicator derived utilising a characteristic of the knowledge term, wherein the confidence level value is indicative of a degree of certainty regarding the knowledge term being indicative of the knowledge base of the second user, wherein the knowledge terms are stored in one of the public portion or the private portion based on the corresponding confidence level values, wherein, detecting the access request comprises detecting a correspondence between the request term and the knowledge term, and determining whether the knowledge term is in the private portion of the user profile; responsive to the access request, automatically generating an authorization request to the second user requesting authorization for access to the user profile by the first user, and only generating the authorization request if the knowledge term is within the private portion of the user profile; and allowing access to at least a portion of the user profile by the first user, in response to a receipt of an access grant from the second user.