This paper looks at the complex web of interrelationships that is emerging as the library and information professions come to terms with the growing phenomenon of knowledge management. This is manifest at one level in the wider organisational and business context, and at another in the professional and employment spheres. Two of the authors are doctoral students at RMIT University, researching the issues arising from the developing relationship between the library and information professions and the knowledge management phenomenon. This includes the potential threats and opportunities, the synergies and the potential for radically new visions and responses. The paper sets these developments in the context of the new knowledge-based economy, the subsequent emergence of knowledge management, and its implications for the library and information professions as manifest both in professional practice and in educational preparation for such practice.