An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Buñuel

Book Description

Although Luis Buñuel, one of the great filmmakers of the century, was notoriously reluctant to discuss his own work in public, he wrote--and wrote well--on many subjects over the years. This collection proceeds chronologically, from poetry and short stories written in Buñuel's youth in Spain to an essay written in 1980, not long before his death. Newly translated into English, the writings offer startling insights into the filmmaker's life and thought.
The earliest pieces came well before Buñuel joined the Surrealist movement in Paris and created the landmark film Un chien andalou with Salvador Dalí. Yet these and the early Surrealist writings reveal the inventiveness of the mind that would later create such masterpieces of cinema as L'Age d'or, Los olvidados, Viridiana, The Milky Way, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire.
Later writings, which include screenplays and reflections on his own and others' films, illuminate many aspects of Buñuel's career, as well as the ways of thinking and perceiving that underlie his unique cinematic style. The final essay by this extraordinary artist sums up his view of the world--still vibrant and full of contradictions--at the end of his life.

Customer Reviews:

Sublime.......2003-06-14

The "return" of the master. Although not as good of a read, imho, as MY LAST SIGH, this is still required reading for Bunuel fans, and still retains all of the great artist's power, humor, and insight. In an era of big bucks and ready-made food, it stands out like a whale among minnows.

Finally, these writings are available.......2000-06-07

This is a wonderful and funny collection of surreal writings from one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Many of the earlier, surreal writings by Bunuel, written when he was with the Surrealists in France, are imaginative and funny. There is also the complete collection of poetry originally titled An Andulsian Dog, which is surprisingly strong. The criticisms by Bunuel, along with the autobiographical material, offer insight to his aesthetic beliefs and his thinking. There are also snatches of the last screenplay on which he was working before he died in addition to the original screenplay for Andulsian Dog and a Hollywood treatment for an unrealized film GOYA. Overall, this is a big treasure for those who love Bunuel and who have been anxiously awaiting to read his hard to find pieces. It is a great companion to Bunuel's MY LAST SIGN.

An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Bunuel.(Review) (book review): An article from: Cineaste

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An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Bunuel.(Review) (book review): An article from: Cineaste
Randall Conrad
Manufacturer: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008J4388
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 1169 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings of Luis Bunuel.(Review) (book review)
Author: Randall Conrad
Publication: Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Page: 60

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Beethoven's habit of composing by making large numbers of preliminary drafts and sketches was sufficiently unusual to attract attention even during his lifetime, and his creative process has attracted a good deal more attention since. The present book incorporates the findings of recent studies on this fascinating subject as well as providing many additional new insights. Cooper examines Beethoven's underlying creative motivation and there is and introduction to his compositional methods in general. The final part of the book is a detailed study of particular compositional problems in six different works, selected to provide a wide range of genres, dates, and types of problem. The book as a whole adds considerably to our understanding of one of the greatest figures in the history of our culture.

Customer Reviews:

Very provocative.......1999-01-26

An extremely well-written and inspiring work, Cooper succeeds in bringing us Beethoven the artist.

Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Processes

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Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Processes
Lewis Lockwood
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0674063627

Book Description

It is well known that Mozart developed his works in his head and then simply transcribed them onto paper, while Beethoven labored assiduously over sketches and drafts--"his first ideas," in Stephen Spender's words, "of a clumsiness which makes scholars marvel at how he could, at the end, have developed from them such miraculous results." Indeed Beethoven's extensive sketchbooks (which total over 8,000 pages) and the autograph manuscripts, covering several stages of development, reveal the composer systematically exploring and evolving his musical ideas.

Through close investigation of individual works, Lewis Lockwood traces the creative process as it emerges in Beethoven's sketches and manuscripts. Four studies address the composition of the Eroica Symphony from various viewpoints. The chamber works discussed include the Cello Sonata in A Major, Opus 69 (of which the entire autograph manuscript of the first movement is published here in facsimile), the string quartet Opus 59 No. 1, and the Cavatina of the later quartet Opus 130. Lockwood's lucid analysis enhances our understanding of Beethoven's musical strategies and stylistic developments as well as the compositional process itself In a final chapter the author outlines the importance of Beethoven's autographs for the modern performer.

Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process.: An article from: Notes

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Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process.: An article from: Notes
Geoffrey Block
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Online Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Science & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on December 1, 1993. The length of the article is 1355 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process.
Author: Geoffrey Block
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 1993
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: v50 Issue: n2 Page: p571(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Technology tree for all 400 techs
Expert tips on building the best killing machines
Stats for every weapon, chassis, propulsion unit, and structure
Walkthroughs for every mission
Strategies for all four multiplayer games

Customer Reviews:

It's a Warzone out there!.......2001-07-05

Although I have played this game for a while it remains challenging and fun. This is not say it is without frustration, but generally for all you diehard fans of the genre it will make you crave a sequel or maybe even a prequel! I found the controls a little bit cumbersome making gameplay at times clumsy. The variety of units and situations compensates for this shortfalling. If I were to make anychanges at all, I would make more powerful longrange artillery pieces as well as more airsupport options. Another hinderance is the organization of battle groups. More battle groups should be an option as well as the way these groups follow their orders.All and all, despite these small annoyances, the action is enough to keep many an armchair general busy for a while.

I thougght this was a very informative book........1999-08-22

Warzone 2100 official strategy guide was a very very informative book. It helped me get through the toughest parts with ease. I really enjoyed the list of technologies it had and what they were, etc. Prima is the best people i have found for stratagy on games. I have bought many of there books, such as Warcraft 2 and Diablo. Warcraft 2 was great because it had the maps for the campaign on it. Anyways, there is no bad things to say about this book. if i could I'd give it 10 stars.

Not worth the money!.......1999-08-08

I was already disappointed with the manual that comes with the game: They tell you that the technical reference is too extensive and plug you to buy the Prima Strategy book which I unfortunately did. It is partly a strategy guide and partly a technical supplement. More strategy guide than otherwise. I was hoping there would be a good description with tips on how to use the various functions in the game. What was most disappointing was that the icons in the building screen (one of the most important features in the game) are not described either in the manual or the strategy book. The book does give a description of each technical advancement and there is a chart at the end of the book. If you do think about getting this book look at it first. One thing to mention: The documentation might be lacking but the game is FANTASTIC!

Book Description

Breakthrough Research on Knowledge Transfer Reveals Five Proven
Methods for Making Knowledge Sharing a Reality--Which are Right for Your Company?

While external knowledge--about customers, about competitors--is critical, it rarely provides a competitive edge for companies because such information is equally available to everyone. But internal "know-how" that is unique to a specific company--how to introduce a new drug into the diabetes market, how to decrease assembly time in an automobile plant--is the stuff of which sustained competitive advantage is made. Nancy Dixon, an expert in the field of organizational learning, calls this knowledge borne of experience "common knowledge," and argues that in order to get beyond talking about knowledge management to actually doing it, companies must first recognize that all knowledge is not created--and therefore can't be shared--equally.

Creating successful knowledge transfer systems, Dixon argues, requires matching the type of knowledge to be shared to the method best suited for transferring it effectively. Based on an in-depth study of several organizations--including Ernst & Young, Bechtel, Ford, Chevron, British Petroleum, Texas Instruments, and the U.S. Army--that are leading the field in successful knowledge transfer, Common Knowledge reveals groundbreaking insights into how organizational knowledge is created, how it can be effectively shared--and why transfer systems work when they do.

Until now, most organizations have had to rely on costly "trial and error" to find a knowledge transfer system that works for them. Dixon helps managers take the guesswork out of this process by outlining three criteria that must be considered in order to determine how a transfer method will work in a specific situation: the type of knowledge to be transferred, the nature of the task, and who the receiver of that knowledge will be. Drawing from the successful--but very different--practices of the companies in her study and providing compelling illustrative stories based on the experiences of real managers, Dixon distills five distinct categories of knowledge transfer, explains the principles that make each of them work, and helps managers determine which of these systems would be most effective in their own organizations.

Common Knowledge gets to the heart of one of the most difficult questions in knowledge transfer today: What makes a system work effectively in one organization but fail miserably in another? Going beyond "one-size-fits-all" approaches and simple generalities like upper management involvement and cultural issues, this important book will help organizations of every kind construct knowledge transfer systems tailored to their unique forms of "common knowledge"--and in the process create the best kind of competitive advantage there is: the kind that can't be copied.

Customer Reviews:

A very useful taxonomy of knowledge transfer techniques.......2003-01-23

Looking for in-depth case studies of KM in action at large organisations? This book offers a superb collection and analysis of knowledge transfer techniques at companies like Ernst&Young, Bechtel, Ford, Chevron, British Petroleum, Texas Instruments, and the U.S. Army.

The material is divided into 9 chapters, and the writing style is very focused and precise. Useful flowcharts and checklists make the material a must-read for KM professionals and management strategists.

Dixon begins by deconstructing some common myths ý such as ýbuild it and they will come.ý Knowledge transfer which is merely based on accumulating electronic databases will bring about neither appropriate contributions nor adequate retrievals; incentives, discipline, actionable results, alignment with objectives, and face-to-face communication are key requisites.

Going beyond broad generalizations of organizational knowledge management, the book focuses specifically on the issue of knowledge transfer, and identifies five key categories of lesson sharing in large companies: serial transfer, near transfer, far transfer, strategic transfer and expert transfer.

They differ in terms of who the intended knowledge receiver is (same or different from the source), the nature of the task involved (frequency and routine), and the type of knowledge being transferred (tacit/explicit).

One chapter each is devoted to the five kinds of transfer mechanisms, and two chapters tie all the material together in terms of guidelines for building knowledge transfer systems.

In serial transfer, the collective knowledge a team has gained from doing its task in one setting is transferred to the next time that the same team does the task in a different setting. The tasks are frequent, so meetings are held regularly and assessment questions are standardized.

In near transfer of explicit knowledge, the source and recipient teams are different ý but the tasks are quite similar. The tasks are routine; selected goal-oriented information is disseminated electronically, along with supplemental personal interaction; information usage is monitored and assessed.

In far transfer, the tacit knowledge a team gained from doing a non-routine task is made available to other teams doing similar work in another part of the organization. There is a reciprocal exchange of knowledge, and face-to-face meetings as well as movement of experts are involved.

Examples include BPýs Peer Assist (initiated in 1994, to share experience in challenging areas like deciding whether to invest in a new rig; the transfer includes a visit to rig sites by peers), Chevronýs Capital Project Management (with online forums as well as physical movement of project managers to spread learned lessons across the company), and Lockheed Martinýs LM21 Best Practices (to identify and eliminate redundant facilities, capabilities and structures across its 30 subsidiaries; assessments were made of performance and financial performance).

Other examples include Japanýs Dai-Ichi Pharmaceuticals, where researchers are expected to spend 20 minutes a day in ýtalk roomsý where anyone can dialogue with them. ýTacit knowledge can be transferred by moving the people who have the knowledge around. Calling on tacit knowledge is not just a memory task, it is as often an act of creation or invention,ý says Dixon.

Top-level commitment to the process is called for. Some companies like Ernst&Young designate certain knowledgeable people as ýshared resources,ý who spend a chunk of their time sharing their knowledge companywide.

Strategic transfer is called for when the collective knowledge of the organization is needed to accomplish a strategic task that occurs infrequently ý but is critical to the whole organization. The knowledge gathering is conducted during the actual operation; it can be expensive and resource-intensive, and also involves knowledge specialists who collect information, conduct interviews, videotape discussions, interpret the examples, and synthesise knowledge.

A useful methodology here is MITýs ýlearning historyý process, which results in a narrative document describing an event and incorporating quotes from multiple sources and even contradictory perspectives. The process should include subsequent reflective research and validation. These events need not have to be the ýbest,ý but will always have useful learnings.

The resulting documentation from strategic transfer can be disseminated on Intranets, and should have guidelines, checklists, people profiles, contact information, colourful overall narratives, records, and artifacts. Once created by KM specialists, the product is handed over to a community of practice that has the responsibility of keeping it current.

Expert transfer involves the transfer of explicit knowledge from an expert to someone who faces a problem beyond their current scope. Knowledge is pulled from the expert on demand, via threaded electronic forums to which support is dedicated for monitoring, escalation and support.

Examples include Buckman Labýs TechForums (started in 1992, monitored by librarians and sysops, and supported by editorial help in producing weekly summaries of discussions), Tandem Computerýs Second Class Mail (for tech support), Chevronýs Best Practices Resource Map (a yellow pages of employee resources), the World Bankýs internal help line, and Ernst&Youngýs Knowledge Stewards. Online infrastructure is critical here for multinationals, and there can be infrastructure problems in developing countries.

In terms of RoI, Ford reportedly claims that US$34 million were saved in just one year by transferring ideas between Vehicle Operations plants; Texas Instruments saved enough from transferring knowledge between wafer fabrication plants to pay for building a whole new facility.

The books shows how each organization can have multiple ways of transferring knowledge, involving databases, response systems, monitoring, meetings, and dedicated KM staff. Appropriate audits of knowledge assets, knowledge gaps, existing knowledge flows, and critical processes need to be conducted, sometimes with external assistance.

As for branding knowledge transfer initiatives, Dixon observes that they often donýt even mention the word ýknowledgeý ý the emphasis is on words like peering, assistance, team building, and networking.

In sum, this book provides an excellent view of knowledge practices right from the trenches of companies at the cutting edge of KM. The inductive analysis and roadmaps for implementing knowledge transfer are essential reading for knowledge professionals in all manner of large organizations.

>>>>>>>

Madanmohan Rao is the author of "The Asia-Pacific Internet Handbook" and can be reached at madan@inomy.com

Read This Before Foisting KM on Your Org...........2002-02-08

In presenting alternative systems of knowledge sharing, and their strengths and weakenesses for the types, times, and range of knowledge, Dixon's best contribution is to guide the reader from following certain dead-ends, though not necessarily ensuring a success down the right path.

This book, though incredibly well-written in clarity and focus, is not so practical for the working manager faced with creating a "KM Solution" that will stick, as it is for those task forces and executives thinking about KM solutions and wanting to avoid mistakes - oh so common in today's organizations!

So, if you are looking for high-level descriptions of the various systems of knowledge sharing, their strenghts and weakenesses, the cases in the book are lively, thought-provoking, and interesting to follow along.

Cashing in on "Common Knowledge".......2001-11-02

The author focuses on only one type of the many possible types of knowledge that reside in a workplace: the knowledge that employees learn from doing the organization's tasks. She terms this kind of knowledge as "Common Knowledge" to differentiate it from book knowledge or from lists of regulations or data bases of customer information.
The author puts high value to this type of knowledge because it is unique to a specific company. This specificity in turn gives the knowledge gained from experience the potential to provide an organization with a competitive edge. The author points out that although other types of knowledge - such as, customer information and competitor intelligence - must be made widely available; they have less potential to provide a competitive advantage because the same knowledge is equally available to competitors. It takes a certain amount of intention, the author points out, to create common knowledge out of an experience. This involves a willingness to reflect back, a postmortem, on actions and their outcomes before moving forward to another project. This allows a team to build knowledge on what worked well so that the successes are replicated while the failures are avoided.
The author spends less time on organization and storage of information and concentrates her efforts to knowledge transfer. One of the myths the author dispels regarding the organization and storage of information is the myth that if management builds a "warehouse" of knowledge, the worker's that need the information will come and take out what they need. Apparently the notion of knowledge being documented and located in a central place offers a comforting sense of control and manageability. Most organizations therefore build a central electronic database, a perfect fit for the warehouse image but to their dismay, having spent a lot of money to create the database, find that very little in the way of contributions and retrievals occur with much enthusiasm.
Most companies will attempt to "fix" the lack of contributions by offering an incentive system that offers rewards to workers who contribute and retrieve knowledge. Although the incentives work to some extent, the do not deliver the hoped for results. The author contends that the answer is not in better incentives but rather in altering the powerful originating image of a warehouse that places the focus on collecting and storing of knowledge instead of placing focus on reusing it. The reuse of knowledge is the ultimate goal.
The author spends a considerable amount of time on the issue of exchange (leverage or transfer) of knowledge in the workplace. Again two myths are dispelled regarding the exchange of knowledge. One is that technology can replace face-to- face exchanges. Although technology allows workers to share knowledge without having to be in the same place it cannot replace face-to-face interactions. Technology has to be married with face-to-face interaction to create the most effective knowledge transfer systems; one does not replace the other although one can greatly enhance the other.
The author also dispels the myth that one has to create a learning culture first in order to have effective knowledge exchange. She contends that it is really the other way round, that is, if people begin sharing ideas that they see as really important, the sharing itself creates a learning culture. The exchange therefore imparts positively on the learning culture. She contends that people are generally willing to share knowledge in an organization if they are acknowledged and respected for their expertise. If they share their knowledge, then the knowledge is held in common - common knowledge that is shared throughout the organization and gives that organization a competitive edge.
The author notes that regarding the transfer of knowledge, "one size doesn't fit all". Unless the transfer system is appropriate fit for the kind of knowledge and task, it may be ignored and eventually abandoned. What knowledge exchange method is used in a specific situation depends on three criteria:
· Who the intended receiver of the knowledge is in terms of similarity of task and context.
· The nature of the task in terms of how routine and frequent it is.
· The type of knowledge that is being transferred.
Once the criteria above are identified for each situation then the knowledge exchange mechanism is devised. The author discusses five categories of knowledge transfer, each of which requires different design elements to make the transfer work. The five categories are Serial Transfer, Near Transfer, Far Transfer, Strategic Transfer and Expert Transfer.
The author discusses the design of an integrated system for knowledge transfer based on the needs and resources of an organization. She points out that the design of a knowledge transfer system should be based on the thought of knowledge as dynamic and that conduits to enhance its flow should be designed rather than warehouses for its storage.

Useful Intro to KM.......2001-11-01

This is the first and only book I've read about knowledge management, so my perspective is limited. Nonetheless, I found it helpful in organizing my thoughts about processes already in place in my organization that are within the scope of KM (but not formally labeled as such), and in considering how our team might use these systems more effectively. Our organization-wide KM program is still in the planning stages. After reading Common Knowledge, I was able meet with out KM program leader and not sound uninformed.
The author's most important point - that KM solutions cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach - is clearly and convincingly supported. No book is perfect for every reader, however. After a few of the book's case studies, the rest had diminishing returns for me. I also didn't get much value from the author's comments on learning theory, although this might be of interest to true KM aficionados. Overall, I would still recommend the book to managers who are already involved or expect to be involved in implementation of their organization's KM programs.

Common to Public Health, too!.......2001-11-01

Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know, by Nancy M. Dixon (Harvard Business School Press, 2000), provides valuable insight into the idea of common knowledge, differentiating the types of knowledge transfer, and providing strategies to achieve the types of knowledge transfer described in the book. Her work is largely business focused, the author having looked at major corporations such as Chevron, Ernst and Young, Ford, Bechtel, and British Petroleum. However, she also uses a successful model developed by the U.S. Army. I read the book from a public health perspective, focusing on examining the relevance of each knowledge type and strategies to my own perspective in public health programs. In this paper, I will present the book's perspective, and intertwine the potential application in the public health arena, which was quite abundant in the book.

The author defines common knowledge as the knowledge that employees can learn from doing organizational tasks. It is the know `how' of a company verses the know `what'. It applies to information that is unique to a company or corporate culture. (Page 13)

The author's goals are to 1) broaden the reader's thinking about how a company might share knowledge, not only the `how', but the `why', as well, and 2) to allow readers to determine which system(s) would be most effective in their own settings. Her focus is on teams, not individuals.

The book begins by dispelling three myths about knowledge sharing:
1. "Build the technology and they will come" mentality. A common mistake made is that a knowledge transfer system is put into place and lays largely dormant or improperly used.
2. Technology can replace face to face encounters. She uses experiences from the Ford motor company as her model example here. Several years ago they began sending key staff to overseas Ford plants to exchange ideas, which ended up saving tens of millions of dollars to the corporation. They have a built in mandate that each year a given plant will increase efficiency by 5%, no small task year in and year out!
3. That you must first develop a learning culture. It is believed by many that successful corporations greedily hang on to information to maintain a competitive edge. The author found quite the contrary to be true in the successful corporations she examined, at least from within a complex organization.

Personally, the `knowledge is power' mentality has prevailed at times in our own public health professional environment. When I began in public health the motto of many of my superiors was `keep your cards close to your chest', get as much information as you can without divulging much; however, that thinking has largely changed as public health systems have changed from direct service orientation to linkage to service and collaboration. Also, an anecdotal observation is that a sharing mentality is healthy and that withholding information breeches the trust of the public health and creates divisions within an organizational structure.

The author distinguishes between two important types of knowledge, explicit verses tacit. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that could be directly transferred to the learner in the form of a recipe or manual. If you follow the directions, then you will achieve the same product. Tacit knowledge is the knowledge that a highly trained, or technically complicated, situation occurs. There is a tacit knowledge base in the expert, but at each decision node, there is a complicated array of possibilities, not easily conveyed in a simple manual. Examples of tacit knowledge would be: a cardiologist examining a heart patient. In this scenario there are numerous factors to consider, such as patient history, blood chemistry, vascular and stress tests, genetics, age, race/ethnicity, gender, smoking history, etc. To make the correct decision, the physician must look at many facets of the patient, using his/her accumulated wealth of knowledge about the subject. The idea of tacit knowledge is important in public health in that, where national and state agencies are involved, best practices and experiences, if properly conveyed to a receiving organization, can benefit that organization or jurisdiction. Often, it is tacit knowledge that is needed to best determine what the best fit for an agency is, and what formula or recommendations might work best.

"Tacit knowledge is not only the facts but the relationships among the facts - that is, how people might combine certain facts to deal with a specific situation" (Page 94). Some organizations have begun to designate certain knowledgeable people as "shared resources", with the expectation that a portion of their work time be spent sharing their knowledge company-wide, leaving the other 90 percent for the project.

In chapter 2, the author argues that, in order to create and leverage common knowledge an organization must:
1. Determine effective ways to translate ongoing experiences into knowledge, and
2. Transfer knowledge across time and space.

Many organizations fail to allow for time to debrief a project team or review a recently completed event. If some analysis of the process does not occur, an organization may achieve extraordinary success along the way on a given project and not be able to replicate that knowledge in future projects.

In the author's view, one size does not fit all, (Page 21-22). To determine how a knowledge transfer method will work, one must consider:
1) Who the intended receiver is, in terms of task and context? What is the receiving team's aborptive capacity? In other words, the team receiving the knowledge transfer must have a level of understanding already to `absorb' new knowledge (i.e., you can't learn division until you understand multiplication!). Being able to function as a team increases the absorptive capacity to implement knowledge transfer.
2) The nature of the task, i.e. whether it is routine/non-routine and how frequent the task is.
3) The type of knowledge being transferred - tacit or explicit.

Types of knowledge transfer:

1. Serial Transfer: A team performs a task and then repeats the task in a new context. Examples given were the U.S. Army's After Action Review (or, AAR), that examines what was supposed to happen, what happened, and what accounts for the change. Some private corporations have adopted a similar model.

The receiving team (which is also the source team in this case) does a similar task in a new context. The nature of the task is both frequent and non-routine. It may involve tacit or explicit knowledge.

An example of serial transfer in a public health context might be: A syphilis elimination team engages in a syphilis blitz in Birmingham, then, later in Miami - similar tasks, but different contexts.

Meetings are held regularly and are brief. Everyone is involved in action participation. There are no recriminations. Reports are not forwarded to other levels, though notes are retained for local use. Meetings are facilitated locally.

Some of the barriers to this strategy are that team members won't take the time to meet and discuss. Team members may lack the proper skills to have knowledge producing conversations. Also, staff may disperse prior to the end of the project period. This can be especially true at the local public health level, where staff may be young, underpaid, and trying to advance their careers.

To successfully implement serial transfer, the following should be in place:
q A standardized format of questions
q A team facilitator
q Basic norms of truth telling
q A no recriminations policy

2. Near transfer: Transferring explicit knowledge from a source team to another team doing a similar repeated task in a similar context but in a different location or context. In this context users specify the content and format of the knowledge being transferred.

Knowledge is `pushed', meaning that the information appears automatically, rather than users searching for the knowledge. In the modern context this could be through emails or electronic bulletins. The information is actively disseminated, with brief, not lengthy, explanations. The context of the messages being pushed is very specific. The author points out (page 72) that comprehensive systems usually fail, there's just too much information, so nothing ends up being important. Targeted databases work better.

The goal of Near Transfer is not to share knowledge, but to meet a specific business goal established by management.

Barriers to near transfer are based in people's fears of little-used data-bases, or a frustrated attempt to get teams to use a new or innovative practice or process. Some organizations have cultures that are resistant to outside successes. "If it wasn't invented here we won't use it." Finally, some people are `too busy to share' successful approaches.

Public health example: During the Global Smallpox elimination effort, prior to the electronic age, initial efforts involved attempts to vaccinate all people; however, there wasn't enough vaccine to do this worldwi

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