Note-Taking when Reading the Web and RSS

Because it should not be used as an archive, where we just take out what we put in, but as a system to think with, the references between the notes are much more important than the references from the index to a single note.

The Zettelkasten relates to the thinker as the workshop does to the craftsman: good tools and lovely furnishings make good work possible, but do not replace it. Therefore, great thinking work can be done without a Zettelkasten, and wonderful craftsmanship can emerge even in the most adverse of circumstances.

Even though you could basically emulate the slip-box with any program that allows setting links and tagging (like Evernote or a Wiki), I strongly recommend using Daniel Lüdecke’s Zettelkasten. It is the only program I know that really implements the principles behind Luhmann’s system and is at the same time simple and easy to use. It is free and av

You have thoughts. You write them down. For most people, this is where the process ends. Only, with a zettelkasten, you’re asked to make a very important cognitive shift: know that the note you just took has yet to realize its potential.

put a “ZK” next to any thought I consider particularly “zettel worthy,” and give context as to how this thought might relate to or inform others already stored in my zettelkasten. At some point later in the week or month, I convert my thoughts directly into main notes, or make a reference note, capturing all my “ZK”-identified thoughts.

Under which topic do I store this note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon it again?