As most of us have over the years, I have both left jobs and been in positions from which others have resigned. When others have resigned, it has sometimes felt like a small crisis because the person leaving often possesses a great deal of knowledge that we need to preserve. When I have resigned, I have often tried to write down everything I can for the next person, but I know I inevitably miss things.
Organizations lose institutional knowledge constantly. Employees retire. People take new jobs. Departments reorganize, and the “who knows how this works” person is suddenly gone. The expertise doesn’t show up on an org chart, so nobody notices it’s missing until a decision has to be made and no one remembers the reasoning behind the last one.
This is where special librarians already have a role to play, whether or not it’s in the job description. Managing knowledge repositories, internal collections, records, and organizational archives isn’t just about storage. It’s about preserving expertise and historical continuity, so the organization doesn’t have to relearn its own history every time someone leaves. This is true for the library itself and the organization as a whole.
How Special Libraries Can Preserve Institutional Knowledge
So, what does that look like in practice? Here are six tips for moving forward with a plan to preserve institutional knowledge in your special library.
1. Treat Exit Interviews as a Knowledge-Capture Opportunity (Not an HR Formality)
Ask departing staff what they know that isn’t written down anywhere. Where do they go when they’re stuck? What decisions have they made that a successor would need context for? This information is only useful if someone is capturing it before the person is gone.
2. Build a Knowledge Repository That People Actually Use (Not Just One That Exists)
A shared drive full of unlabeled files isn’t preservation and, unfortunately, isn’t useful. Tag records, keep metadata consistent, and make sure the system (whether you’re using a knowledge management system, intranet, integrated library system, or collections management system) is easy for a new employee to navigate. Assign responsibility for maintaining the repository so outdated, duplicate, or incomplete information does not make it difficult to use or trust.
3. Distinguish Between Records Retention and Knowledge Retention
Retention schedules tell you what to keep and for how long. They don’t tell you what any of it means. Our job as recordkeepers is to make sure the context survives alongside the document, not just the document itself. For example, meeting minutes may record what was decided, but a decision log, annotation, or project retrospective can explain why the decision was made.
4. Identify Who Holds Unwritten Expertise Before They’re the Only One Who Does
Look for the people others go to with questions. That pattern is a signal. It means their knowledge needs a home outside of their own memory, sooner rather than later. Capture and share that knowledge through interviews, process maps, recorded demonstrations, FAQs, mentoring, or job shadowing. Store documented expertise in a central location accessible to employees with appropriate permissions.
5. Make Digital Preservation a Habit (Not a Project)
File formats become obsolete. Storage systems get replaced. A one-time digitization effort isn’t preservation; it’s a snapshot. Build in regular migration and format checks so that what you save today will remain accessible five or ten years from now.
6. Connect the Archives to Current Work (Not Just History)
Archival collections provide greater organizational value when staff can connect historical records to current work. Show staff how records inform present decisions, whether that’s a past project’s “lessons learned” or a policy’s original rationale. Have senior employees teach new employees about the history of both the organization and its library. This can give current practices and decisions valuable context.
Of course, none of this replaces the person who’s leaving. But it does mean their departure doesn’t take the organization’s memory with them. So, when you are struggling to manage the knowledge held across your organization and library, remember that knowledge retention isn’t just about keeping records. It’s about preserving the reasoning, context, and continuity that allow an organization to learn from its history rather than repeat it.
The Sooner You Start, the Lower Your Risk of Knowledge Loss
I encourage you to reflect on your own library’s knowledge retention plan. Where is your organization most vulnerable to knowledge loss? What might you need to change? Identify a role, process, or recurring decision that relies too heavily on one individual. Then, have a conversation with others in your library and organization about how to begin documenting and sharing that knowledge before a transition occurs.
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