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

Below are reasons to use Obsidian and then suggestions about how to transition to using it.

Arguments for using Obsidian as opposed to relying solely on MS Explorer (if you are a PC user) for file management:

• Easy to do keyword searching of content of documents (Obsidian "notes")
• Rely on hyperlinks between Obsidian notes, thereby avoiding fragmentation of having lots of sequestered documents
• Obsidian can still reach out to MS Explorer.

Suggestions about how to transition to this system:

• When learning Obsidian, you can start by creating a sandbox vault or using the one that comes with the software.  
• Initially create just one vault with one set of templates. You can then copy the templates to other vaults.
• If you adopt Obsidian to create notes, you will be moving away from a system (e.g., Windows Explorer) based on a directory structure without the ability to interlink files. As a result, you may find yourself forgetting about files you still have in that old structure, so it is a good idea to move as much content as possible over to Obsidian or link out from Obsidian to folders and content within your old directory structure. 
• There is lots of web documentation on the web about Obsidian to which you can link. If you think Obsidian should be able to do something, there is a good chance that web documentation addresses it. It helps to create an Obsidian vault containing links to documentation as well as your notes.
• If you want to link out to folders or files in MS Explorer, keep all the material in the latter in a consolidated location within the latter's structure. 
• Search for youtubes that demo aspects of using Obsidian, Zotero, and their use in implementing Zettelkasten.
• Folders and notes are fundamental to Obsidian. It helps to create folders under which to file a set of topically interrelated notes. To reduce clutter, delete folders and notes you no longer need. 
• After transitioning to Obsidian, monitor new developments in its forum.