Knowledge management: UKHSA Knowledge and Library Services
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-27)

Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) support knowledge management at UKHSA by providing resources, tools and expertise to help seek, share and use knowledge.

UKHSA staff can find more information and details of upcoming events on our intranet page: Public health and science - Sharing and using knowledge (https://intranet.ukhsa.gov.uk/sites/public-health-and-science/SitePageModern/65142/sharing-and-using-knowledge)

Overview of knowledge management (KM)

Knowledge Management (KM) is about people and how we work together: communicating, sharing and learning from others.

When knowledge flows freely around the organisation, we can easily find the people and information we need - or even things we didn’t realise we needed. Using our collective knowledge helps us make better decisions, improve practices and innovate.

Knowledge can be:
- explicit (‘know-what’) - written down in manuals, procedures, lessons learned and research findings
- tacit (‘know-how’) - residing in people’s heads, rooted in individual experience, and requires personal contact and trust to share effectively
This animation from the Environment Agency (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh_EFqH5E3g) (4.5 mins) describes knowledge management and what it means for the way we work.

We encourage the use of simple KM tools to help teams seek, share and use knowledge in their work. Our KM toolbox (https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=109745) describes some common tools and techniques that support knowledge sharing and learning.

Overview of knowledge mobilisation (KMb)

Knowledge Mobilisation (KMb) is part of Knowledge Management. It is the process of turning research evidence into effective changes in health policy, clinical practice or products. It is an iterative, two-way process where researchers engage stakeholders to close the gap between what is known from research and what makes it into policy and practice.

If you’re working in or with health research we can help you to:
- plan research that will have impact
- get existing research into policy and practice
- learn more about knowledge mobilisation through our training and resources
There is no gold-standard KMb model. Good KMb practice is when it is tailored to a specific project or workstream such as a piece of research - for example: Impact in action: the low dead space story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8-McUIAlg) from the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation at University of Bristol.

Our Service Offer

Enquiry Services

KLS can respond to your enquiries in relation to knowledge management and mobilisation and provide advice and support.

Get in touch using our contact form (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries).

Resources

We have curated a collection of KM resources. Visit our KM books and journals page (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/knowledge-management-books-and-journals-ukhsa-knowledge-and-library-services) for more information.

KM Toolbox

A selection of simple tools and techniques to help create, share and use knowledge in organisations. These build on what many teams already do, but can help develop more systematic approaches to knowledge sharing.

See our KM Toolbox (https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=109745) to view some recommended tools and techniques.

You can also contact us through our our enquiry form (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries). Get in touch for support with:
- an introduction to KM and KMb
- more information on using any of these tools
- guided use of these tools for your team
Events

UKHSA staff can find more information and details of upcoming events on our intranet page: Public health and science - Sharing and using knowledge (https://intranet.ukhsa.gov.uk/sites/public-health-and-science/SitePageModern/65142/sharing-and-using-knowledge). For more information, get in touch by completing our enquiry form (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries).

KM and KMb peer support via communities of practice

KM Advocates (UKHSA)

This community of practice offers a space for people to share experiences and resources, ask questions, pose solutions and support each other to improve KM within their teams and across the organisation. Membership is open to all UKHSA staff with an interest in KM. The community is hosted on MS Teams.

To join the community of practice, get in touch by completing our enquiry form (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries).

Knowledge Mobilisation Community of Practice

The UKHSA Knowledge Mobilisation Community of Practice (KMb CoP) offers a space for people to share experience and resources, pose questions and discuss solutions, and work together on KMb challenges.

The CoP supports networking, relationship-building across teams and organisations, and including KMb in impact and evaluation work.

Membership is open to anyone in UKHSA and partner organisations, such as universities, local authorities and charities. Use this link to join: UKHSA Knowledge Mobilisation Community of Practice - FuturesNHS (https://future.nhs.uk/UKHSA_KnowledgeMobilisation/groupHome?done=OBJChangesSaved).

The KM Advocates community on MS Teams hosts the internal ‘Evidence into policy and practice’ channel for internal discussion and signposting around KMb. To join the internal community, get in touch by completing our enquiry form (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries).

Contact us

For further information or queries, contact us.

Get in touch (https://forms.ukhsa.gov.uk/kls-enquiries)

Feedback

This is a new service. Help us improve it by providing feedback (https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/7932/give-feedback-on-knowledge-and-library-services).