Explicit vs Tacit Knowledge

I read a project paper to be reviewed for my RIT class. The title of the project paper is 'The Use of Weblogs as a tool to document tacit knowledge of experienced english lecturers at UiTM Arau'. It is done by Latisha Asmaak bt Shafie.

Latisha explained the difference between explicit and tacit knowledge by citing Polanyi's (1983) work. Polanyi exemplified the distinctions between the two in riding a bicycle. Polanyi claimed that many cyclists could not confirm which handlebar should be turned to prevent a fall but they know exactly which handlebar to turn when they are in the real situation of preventing a fall. The knowledge how to keep upright on a bicycle is what Polanyi called tacit knowledge. On the other hand, explicit knowledge is the documented step by step details that a person can explain in preventing a cyclist from falling.

Latisha mentioned that Nonaka (1994) believes that tacit knowledge could be transformed into explicit knowledge when the knowledge is externalized through a conversion process (by documenting the process I believe).