The Encyclopedia of Communities of Practice in Information and Knowledge Management explores communities of practice (CoPs) in light of the view that the sociotechnical view has long put forward the concept of team working across functions as the better way of organizational design. With knowledge work on the increase it has become apparent that at the very least CoPs, as they have become known, are ways to share knowledge across functions and thus improve processes and outcomes. Offering a rich variety of cases from across the world and across disciplines this encyclopedia will allow the reader to see how other organizations have tackled the necessary means of sharing knowledge across communities and functions, and will thus be able to derive lessons for their own organizations. This publication is extensively informed by practice as well as research. Contributors were selected from a wide range of professions and organizations, both not-for-profit as well as for profit, and internationally recognized, as well as from a wide variety of nationalities. The number of practitioner contributions will be exceptional - this is a new and unique book in this field.