Has anyone seen this book and can tell me what they think about it?

Tinderbox with $250 is too expensive for me to buy but i love to read good books about information management.

Yes, I have read the first edition. The second edition is about to come; according to the author (Mark Bernstein). It is good book on the general logic of note taking. But, it has little doesn't explain how to use Tinderbox. Many people assume that book is an explanation on how to use Tinderbox. NO, there is no single chapter which teaches on how to teach Tinderbox.

If you are looking to learn how to use Tinderbox, Tinderbox way is not the right book.

check out the forum for recommendations. There are some good resources mentioned there.

Have you read "Digital Paper: A Manual for Research and Writing with Library and Internet Materials". Tinderbox WAY is similar to that. But, I think Digital Paper goes to more details on how to manage digital information that the Tinderbox WAY.

But, Tinderbox way focuses on note taking; not general infromation manament. It is narrow; more focused on notes; note taking..how to use notes for better manage your information; your life.

Digital Paper goes on to details of informaiton mining; using libraries for getting filtered information etc.


My suggestion is: so far as you are intrested in information management in general, not specific "how to use Tinderbox", Tinderbox Way is worth reading. The same is true of Digital Paper....

Are there other better, more focused books on how to manage information out there?

This is very interesting topic to talk about.

I am sorry, I have the 2nd Edition of Tinderbox Way. The coming up must then be Edition 3.

I read the first edition as a paper book. I have the second edition as a PDF. I enjoyed reading the former, but haven't gotten far in the latter. It is really a philosophy on how to think about using Tinderbox. Instead of a "How-To" book about Tinderbox, it is more of a "Why-Do." It does provide some insight about note-taking in general, but I suspect you will be disappointed if you get it for just that purpose.

Steve Z.

Dellu wrote:

Have you read "Digital Paper: A Manual for Research and Writing with
Library and Internet Materials". Tinderbox WAY is similar to that. But,
I think Digital Paper goes to more details on how to manage digital
information that the Tinderbox WAY.

Thanks, i have not. But it will change, just ordered a copy.

Are there other better, more focused books on how to manage information
out there?

This is very interesting topic to talk about.

Yes, yes it is. Some good ones I've discovered over the past few years:

http://disciplineoforganizing.org/ which is several editions of a fantastic text plus supporting website. Focused on general info management rather than personal. Not great for step by step examples, but really good for clarifying terms. I think that's really important to do, both with our personal CRIMPing journey and communicating with others. Terms like keyword, category, tag, etc vary wildly between platforms that we really need to start being more consistent.

http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/ Another University research group project sort of like the former. Though it seems to have stopped producing anything a few years ago. The actual book "Keeping Found things Found" is one of my faves. More focused on personal information management.

"Where Good Ideas Come From" Steven Johnson. This had a very good in-depth description of how he used Devon Think. Possibly the best concrete example of how to leverage personal notes I've ever read. That example is my mental target as a CRIMPer and has made me dissatisfied with any PC solution ever since.

Books by David Weinberger are great. "Too Big to Know", "Everything is Miscellaneous" etc. I have simultaneously more and less appreciation for the Dewey decimal system after reading his history and thoughts on that.

"The Information" by James Gleick blew my mind. High level, but also made me think differently about all the data in my life and it's long term role.