Which type of knowledge is characterized by being easily communicated and accessible?

The type of knowledge characterized by being easily communicated and accessible is explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to information that is straightforward, structured, and often documented. It can be easily shared through written documents, guidelines, databases, and manuals. This makes explicit knowledge readily available to anyone who seeks it.

For instance, explicit knowledge can include things like books, articles, policies, and procedures within an organization. Since it can be easily articulated, codified, and transferred, explicit knowledge plays a crucial role in education and training environments, where information needs to be shared clearly and systematically.

In contrast, tacit knowledge refers to the unarticulated, intuitive, and experience-based insights that individuals may possess but find difficult to express. Meta-knowledge involves knowledge about knowledge itself, such as understanding the principles behind learning processes. Social knowledge typically encompasses the shared understandings or norms within a community or social group that are not formally documented. These types of knowledge do not have the same level of accessibility and ease of communication as explicit knowledge.