Evolving information and knowledge has impacted all organisations, including academic libraries. This has made knowledge management become important. The conventional function of academic libraries is to collect, process, disseminate, store and utilise information to provide service to the university community. However, the environment in which academic libraries operate today is changing. Academic libraries are part of the university and its organisational culture. Whatever affects universities has an impact on academic libraries. As a result, the role of academic libraries is changing to provide the competitive advantage for the parent universities. The success of academic libraries depends on their ability to utilise information and knowledge of its staff to better serve the needs of the academic community. This requires academic librarians to reappraise their functions, expand their roles and responsibilities to effectively contribute and meet the needs of a large and diverse university community. Knowledge management is a viable means in which academic libraries could improve their services in the present knowledge era. This is a report of the results of a case study conducted to establish the ways in which the academic librarians of the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg Libraries could add value to their services by engaging with knowledge management. 1.

Abstract. This paper presents possible patterns of knowledge distribution in particular cases of community networks. The role of social networks in innovation distribution is accounted in special case studies taking in consideration the development work done in Finland and Romania. Main concepts contributing to conceptual framework used are: social networks, learning areas, community development, remote regions, trust, social capital, innovation, knowledge management, development policy. After establishing a quite general conceptual framework, two particular case studies are brought together in order to illustrate in a practical manner the main mechanisms of the model. In designing the theoretical model, I took into consideration contemporary papers dealing with theoretical aspects of the chosen concepts, and also with pragmatic approaches. My aim is to support once more the idea of policy-making advised by facts in a knowledge-based environment. 1.

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