After two years of building its readership, honing its mission, and crafting fresh, insightful content, HBS Working Knowledge is poised for the next stage of its development.
"It's an exciting time. We launched the original product with solid content and a strong customer base," says Editor Sean Silverthorne, a former online journalist with CNET.com. "Now we're at the point where Working Knowledge is ready to build on that momentum to explore new directions in content and design."

Since Baker Library first posted HBS Working Knowledge in October 1999, the portal has offered a view of current research at the School, delivering a rotating mix of management-related stories, faculty Q&As, and book reviews each week. But now, notes Managing Editor Carla Tishler, the seven staff members want to take HBS Working Knowledge to the next level by redesigning the site to be more user-friendly and increasing the number of "what-do-you-think" feedback sections, allowing users to be active participants, not just passive readers.

"We want to take better advantage of the Web as a medium," observes Silverthorne. "We plan to add the ability, whether through a chat area or bulletin-board arrangement, for readers to comment on stories and to talk with each other." He also expects to supplement copy reprinted from existing Web sites and HBS publications, such as the Bulletin and the Harvard Business Review, with more content originated by the site itself.

Silverthorne, who took over the reins last spring, sees these additions as the evolution of an already solid resource that combines talent from all over the School. "We'll always be a collaborative effort," he remarks, acknowledging the critical support that the portal receives from Baker librarians, faculty, alumni, staff, and various editorial teams across HBS, to name a few. "I also want to increase the percentage of original content by commissioning more freelance articles, monthly columns, and special reports. We would like to be a vehicle for HBS faculty to disseminate their work." Last summer, the site featured a new monthly alumni profile called "Dispatches from the Field," a summer reading list, and a special report on the HBS Global Alumni Conference in Cleveland.

Looking to the future, Silverthorne hopes these changes will make Working Knowledge an even stronger tool for business-minded users who are looking for information that will help them throughout their careers, whether they're mulling over the idea of starting a small business or already running a multimillion dollar corporation.

"Working Knowledge makes the work done at HBS accessible beyond its walls," Tishler observes. "We know that staying connected is important for alumni and that after leaving HBS, they often miss its intellectual atmosphere. HBS Working Knowledge helps meet that need and delivers to alumni the kind of content and ideas they've been missing."

— Lory Hough

Visit HBS Working Knowledge at www.workingknowledge.hbs.edu.

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