People need information, knowledge, tools at the point of need. They are working according to certain processes or procedures or are focusing on gathering, analyzing and creating information and knowledge in case of typical problem solving activities.

While information systems very much support the operational and partly the procedural aspects of work (with a strong focus on efficiency), we see knowledge portals as the support for more procedural and problem solving oriented activities where the focus is primarily on effectivity.

In order to reflect the way of thinking, learning and working we have to combine the support for learning, working and knowledge sharing by integrating these into target group specific learning environments or knowledge portals.

Knowledge is information put into the context (from the perspective of a user).

We distinguish four knowledge types: 

• Factual knowledge: Facts and figures
  being an objective and specific type of knowledge. For instance descriptions of characteristics of objects i.e. length, height, color (although people may perceive colors sometimes differently)
• Conceptual knowledge: Models, theories, methods 
  being objective and general. For instance a product development method supporting a structured and context independent way of achieving results. So, approaches becoming less dependent on individual experiences or opinions. 

• Constructivistic knowledge: Experiences, ideas, opinions, views
  being subjective and specific. For instance a new product idea, a view on the future, an opinion on the past (relevant in order to challenge the general and objective theories and models). 

• Qualitative knowledge: Values, norms, culture
  being subjective and general knowledge. For instance ''this is the way we always did it" might indicate an implicit value and success factor (although one should be critical whether the values still hold in the given situation). Following norms and values create a high probability of wanted outcomes becoming true (although restricted to the scope of the belief system of the user).