Knowledge Management Thought Leader 34: Mary Lee Kennedy

Originally posted 12-Jan-23

4 min readJan 13, 2023

Mary Lee Kennedy was the Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). ARL represents 124 institutional members drawn from libraries and archives in major public and private universities, federal government agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and the USA. ARL’s mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication by fostering the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promoting equity and diversity, pursuing advocacy and public policy efforts, forging partnerships, and catalyzing collective efforts.

Mary Lee managed the Corporate Library Group at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) while I was leading DEC’s knowledge management program. At Microsoft, she led a global team in the design and implementation of knowledge and information strategies that served all Microsoft employees and supported internal pilots for enterprise products. Mary Lee developed Microsoft’s intranet portal and collaboration solution to connect employees with internal and external knowledge and information. She achieved significant advances in market analysis, competitive intelligence, research and product information management, and internal communications.

Education

Louisiana State University, Master of Library Science
University of Alberta, Bachelor of Arts in Social Psychology and Classics

Experience

Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Executive Director, 2018–2024
New York Public Library, Chief Library Officer, 2013–2016
Harvard University, Senior Associate Provost for the Harvard Library, 2011–2013
Harvard Business School, Executive Director, Knowledge and Library Services, 2004–2011
Microsoft Corporation, Director, Knowledge Network Group, 1998–2004
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Corporate Library Group Manager, 1995–1998

Profiles

Books

Intranets for Info Pros edited with Jane Dysart

TIMAF Information Management Best Practices — Volume 1 edited by Bob Boiko and Erik Hartman — Chapter 1: Creating a Desired IM State: Understand, rationalize and take control of the state of information management in your organization — with Bob Boiko

The Emerald Handbook of Modern Information Management edited by James M. Matarazzo — Chapter 6: Leading and Managing Strategy in the 21st Century — with Rebecca Jones

Knowledge Management in Libraries and Organizations edited by Leda Bultrini, Sally McCallum, Wilda Newman, and Julien Sempere — Chapter 21: Knowledge Collaboration in Higher Education

Videos

Presentations

Technology and Collaboration with Stephen Abram
Leadership Roles for [Research] Libraries in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Conferences

Dublin Core Conference 2003

Information Today

KnowledgeNets 2001 — Microsoft Case Study: Portals as Communities for Knowledge Sharing
2002
Workshop 1: Tying Information & Knowledge Together: Successful Strategies
Session D103: Setting Context: Personas, Archetypes, and Organizational Engagement — Understanding User Requirements for the Enterprise Information Portal
Intranet Professional’s Intranet Resources: CyberTour

KMWorld & Intranets

2003

Preconference Workshop 2: Intranet Professionals Academy
Session D301:Inside the Microsoft Intranet: Partnerships Across the Enterprise with Mark Davies

2005

Session B303: Sharing Critical Knowledge: Healthcare Lessons
Session E102: Governance Do’s and Don’ts
Session F101: Implementing New Technologies — Lessons on Adoption from the Field — with Deb Wallace

Computers in Libraries

2018 Change Management
2017

The Gilbane Conference

Boston 2012 Creating Information Environments that Generate New Knowledge: Is it Science Fiction or Time to Suspend Disbelief?
San Francisco 2007 CM-1: Case Studies — Stretching the New SharePoint
Boston Content Management Technologies 2004

CM-1: Planning for & Evaluating CMSes — How to Get Started
KM-2: Collaboration and Knowledge Management Best Practices