Are you familiar with the Zettelkasten method? It's a general note-taking method, but I have heard one of its primary applications is for academic research. The original method involved creating a...
Are you familiar with the Zettelkasten method? It's a general note-taking method, but I have heard one of its primary applications is for academic research.
The original method involved creating a whole pile of notecards, each with a unique ID, a single note/idea, and any necessary citations. The useful part is that a notecard can reference any other notecard by ID, which allows you to make an offline version of hypertext.
In the present day, there are a lot of programs and tools to streamline the process instead of using notecards. I do it occasionally as an alternative method of personal journaling, but I think the method would really shine in an actual research scenario.
I use Obsidian notes for all my uni note taking, which operates according to similar principles. I don't quite go down the route of one note per idea though... I can see how that would be...
I use Obsidian notes for all my uni note taking, which operates according to similar principles. I don't quite go down the route of one note per idea though... I can see how that would be beneficial, but the system I have currently seems to work quite well for me, so I'm not keen to pivot to something untested until I'm in the clear!
Yes, I'm a strong supporter of just using what works for you! Obviously, it can be good to experiment from time to time, but there's no need to over-optimize.
Yes, I'm a strong supporter of just using what works for you! Obviously, it can be good to experiment from time to time, but there's no need to over-optimize.
Interesting! My method is similar in that instead of Notecard IDs, I create simple text files for each topic such as tech/github, tech/facebook, tech/linux, health/yoga, etc. and one of them can...
Interesting! My method is similar in that instead of Notecard IDs, I create simple text files for each topic such as tech/github, tech/facebook, tech/linux, health/yoga, etc. and one of them can refer to another by simply name.
I haven't used any app though, there are just too many and I don't know which can be truly useful in the organization process. Are there any good ones?
Yeah, your system sounds pretty similar! I'd imagine just having something like that in place probably gives you 90% of the utility without any extra organizational overhead. The one tool I've...
Yeah, your system sounds pretty similar! I'd imagine just having something like that in place probably gives you 90% of the utility without any extra organizational overhead.
The one tool I've used for Zettelkasten is Zettlr. I like the interface and workflow for it, but I have had trouble setting it up to get a consistent experience on multiple machines. That might be a "me" problem, though! In any case, I think it's nice enough to be worth giving a try and seeing if it works for you.
It's not easy but it's still very important to do it because otherwise, it'll all be lost and won't be useful. The thing is that ideas strike at most inappropriate times and when they do, you...
It's not easy but it's still very important to do it because otherwise, it'll all be lost and won't be useful. The thing is that ideas strike at most inappropriate times and when they do, you better have it all organized at one place instead of having to scavenge from your search history, bookmarks, etc!
I'm starting to research for my Masters thesis, and I completely agree with the premise that organising research is not so easy!
Are you familiar with the Zettelkasten method? It's a general note-taking method, but I have heard one of its primary applications is for academic research.
The original method involved creating a whole pile of notecards, each with a unique ID, a single note/idea, and any necessary citations. The useful part is that a notecard can reference any other notecard by ID, which allows you to make an offline version of hypertext.
In the present day, there are a lot of programs and tools to streamline the process instead of using notecards. I do it occasionally as an alternative method of personal journaling, but I think the method would really shine in an actual research scenario.
I use Obsidian notes for all my uni note taking, which operates according to similar principles. I don't quite go down the route of one note per idea though... I can see how that would be beneficial, but the system I have currently seems to work quite well for me, so I'm not keen to pivot to something untested until I'm in the clear!
Yes, I'm a strong supporter of just using what works for you! Obviously, it can be good to experiment from time to time, but there's no need to over-optimize.
Interesting! My method is similar in that instead of Notecard IDs, I create simple text files for each topic such as
tech/github,tech/facebook,tech/linux,health/yoga, etc. and one of them can refer to another by simply name.I haven't used any app though, there are just too many and I don't know which can be truly useful in the organization process. Are there any good ones?
Yeah, your system sounds pretty similar! I'd imagine just having something like that in place probably gives you 90% of the utility without any extra organizational overhead.
The one tool I've used for Zettelkasten is Zettlr. I like the interface and workflow for it, but I have had trouble setting it up to get a consistent experience on multiple machines. That might be a "me" problem, though! In any case, I think it's nice enough to be worth giving a try and seeing if it works for you.
It's not easy but it's still very important to do it because otherwise, it'll all be lost and won't be useful. The thing is that ideas strike at most inappropriate times and when they do, you better have it all organized at one place instead of having to scavenge from your search history, bookmarks, etc!