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A Software Ecosystem for Research, Zettelkasten Note-Taking, and Writing [UNDER DEVELOPMENT]

The Zettelkasten note-taking system

Tiago Forte's book (pp. 2-4) "Building a Second Brain" mentions the Zettelkasten note-taking approach (p. 4, fn.) as one type of "Second Brain" or "PKM" , i.e. "personal knowledge management". 

The book "How to Take Smart Notes" mentioned in the resources below provides a detailed discussion of the rationales for using the Zettelkasten note-taking system and ideas about how to implement it. Page references below are to this book. Below are only some highlights of the Zettelkasten appproach. 

The Zettelkasten (slip-box) note-taking system:

  • enables you to create (in effect) a "second brain" (cf. 20), about which you can find material on the web;
  • assumes it is far better to actively summarize one's reading (72) rather than highlight texts or write comments in their margins (42)
  • facilitates exploring interrelationships between your notes as a way to discover new ideas  (72).

The system deploys a typology of various kinds of notes:

  • fleeting notes, which serve as a place to record ideas that occur to you (22-23, 29, 39).
  • literature notes, which distill one's understanding of a text (23)
  • permanent notes, which draw from the two types above (23, 39, 44).

Some additional ones:

  • index notes (19) point to notes about the various topics of your project.
  • project notes, which bear on a single project (40, 43-44).

Implementing Zettelkasten requires considerable diligence. You must be prepared to do extensive work in synthesizing your reading, ideally in your own words -- though see the section about AI summarization tools in this guide.

This system is suitable for people who want to do lots of writing over a significant period of time, want to maintain a large and growing stock of notes they can draw on for various projects, and are committed to developing the habit of actively engaging texts by paraphrasing them within notes. (AI summarization tools may help in this text, if you have time constraints that make it difficult to write your own notes.)

You may find however that your cognitive style or approach to research does not accommodate the Zettelkasten approach (see e.g. 46-49 for a summary of the approach) or that you find some aspects of it useful but not others.  Also, you may find that the software used to implement the system (see Roadmap) may not suit your purposes. The point is to develop a system that works for you. 

Instead of implementing a note-taking system electronically, you can also use the "analog" format of paper notes.  

Zettelkasten Resources

RESOURCES

Book

The book "How to Take Smart Notes" discusses this system. You can ask for it at the circulation desk in the lobby of Fairchild-Martindale Library, where it is on reserve.

Other resources

 

Youtubes

See Youtube for many videos about the Zettelkasten note-taking system, including how to implement it in relation to Obsidian and Zotero.