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diff --git a/doc/org-zettelkasten-manual.org b/doc/org-zettelkasten-manual.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5b424b --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/org-zettelkasten-manual.org @@ -0,0 +1,126 @@ +#+title: Org Zettelkasten Manual +#+subtitle: Release {{{version}}} +#+author: Yann Herklotz +#+language: en + +#+texinfo: @insertcopying + +* Introduction +:PROPERTIES: +:DESCRIPTION: Getting started. +:END: +#+cindex: introduction + +Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten is becoming increasingly popular for being a great +note taking technique. However, it is often misunderstood as taking notes +without any structure, whereas Luhmann actually structured his notes +hierarchically, but also allowed for arbitrary links between notes. This post +will describe the general note-taking workflow that Luhmann used and a practical +implementation of the Zettelkasten in Emacs’ built-in org-mode, which I have +been using regularly for my notes and has been working well. + +** Inserting new notes +#+cindex: notes + +There are several possible notes that can be inserted into the Zettelkasten, but +the need for them should arise naturally and one therefore doesn’t have to think +about the separate types of notes directly. In addition to the following types +of notes, Luhmann also had a separate box for references and notes about those +references, however, these are not added to the Zettelkasten in my case because +I felt like using tools specifically to keep track of references is a better +system for me. This is mentioned further in the keeping track of references +section. + +*** Permanent Notes +#+cindex: notes + +Inserting new notes into the Zettelkasten can be done for any new piece of +information one wants to permanently add to the tree of notes and therefore the +network of notes. These are therefore called “permanent notes,” however, these +are not the only notes that may appear in the network. The most important thing +to take into consideration is that “permanent notes” should be completely in +your own words, and express an idea that also links to other parts in the +network. At the start it may be necessary to create a few topics that these +notes fit into, however, eventually one should be able to find notes that are +similar enough which this new note should follow. + +*** Index notes +#+cindex: notes + +Apart from that, there can also be “index notes,” which try to give some +structure to a subsection that may have gotten lost with all of the branches +that may have been added. In addition to that, these may tie in other notes from +other topics as well that relate to that topic. These can therefore just be +added whenever you feel like there are too many notes for a subtopic and cannot +keep track of all the possible links. + +** Keeping track of references +#+cindex: references + +Luhmann kept track of references by inserting them into their own box in a +linear structure and then referring to them by ID whenever they needed to be +cited. These are often called “bibliographical notes.” In addition to that, +notes that were not permanent and more relevant to a specific paper or book were +also added separately to the other notes and were called “literature notes,” as +these often contained summaries of the papers or books that were cited. Even +though these were written in his own words, they only really were relevant to +the paper itself as temporary notes, which could eventually be added as +“permanent notes” into the Zettelkasten and linked to other notes when a +narrative developed that did link this piece of knowledge to other notes. + +As references are quite separate to the other notes anyways, I prefer to keep +them quite separate as well, and instead use standard bibliography management +tools to keep track of all my references as well as linking notes to the +references in the tool itself. In my case this is using ebib in Emacs, however, +any alternative works as well, such as Zotero. + +In my notes, I then reference these by their bibtex identifier that is +automatically generated, and which is later used when referencing the same +literature in LaTeX, for example. This allows me to keep these notes quite +separate and forces me to think about links when I do eventually add them to the +network as “permanent notes.” + +* GNU Free Documentation License +:PROPERTIES: +:APPENDIX: t +:DESCRIPTION: The license for this documentation. +:END: + +#+include: fdl.org + +* Main Index +:PROPERTIES: +:INDEX: cp +:DESCRIPTION: An index of Org Zettelkasten concepts and features. +:END: + +* Copying +:PROPERTIES: +:copying: t +:END: + +This manual is for Org Zettelkasten version {{{version}}}. + +Copyright \copy 2022 Yann Herklotz. + +#+begin_quote +Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document +under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or +any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no +Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," +and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license +is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License." + +(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have the freedom to copy and +modify this GNU manual." +#+end_quote + +* Export Setup :noexport: + +#+setupfile: doc-setup.org + +#+export_file_name: org-zettelkasten.texi + +#+texinfo_dir_category: Zettelkasten +#+texinfo_dir_title: Org Zettelkasten +#+texinfo_dir_desc: A Zettelkasten mode leveraging Org |