Forum Posts Feed
Zettelkasten & Tinderbox for literature review
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by Beck
Nov 30, 2018 at 04:43 PM
Hugh wrote:
>videos (https://vimeo.com/user14236198) remain in my view (and, it
>seems, also Beck Tench’s) the best way of learning the application, at
Just wanted to confirm that this is 100% true. Steve, your posts are what 1) sold me on the software; 2) convinced me it was possible to get started; and 3) inspired much of the fiddling that led to how I’m presently using it.
(I’m a big fan!)
Posted by Dellu
Dec 3, 2018 at 11:02 AM
The video attempts to show to use Tinderbox for managing zettels (slip boxes).
I skimmed through the book that Beck mentions in the video, I have a better understanding of zettels(slip boxes). But, I end up having many worries and questions, than a motivation to use zettels.
- zettels are supposed to be permanent notes
- they are different from regular reading notes because they are supposed to function outside the context of the reading material (book or article). Zettels stand by themselves. You can link them. But, they are independent ideas that don’t necessarily rely on the chains of arguments presented in the reading material.
- they are short; and each of them are supposed to contain just “one idea”.
- they are independent of a specific project. A zettel can be an input to a project. But, using a zettel in a specific project doesn’t lead to the removal or archival of the zettel (in contrast to project notes). I personally find the distinction between zettels and project notes very difficult.
- We can write zettels after we finish reading the book or the article.
- the gist or abstract of the article can be one of the zettel notes (literature review).
I find the idea of zettel interesting. I am also very worried that it can be a productivity killer because collecting zettels might take a huge part of our research (reading). I do my reading with a specific purpose in mind. A specific project is often the purpose. If I remove that purpose from my mind, I will be engulfed for every by every book I picked up because there are many interesting ideas that I can collect, and think about forever.
I want to write a paper on XXX, I read articles and books that are relevant to XXX. Now, zettel notes are not part of the project. Every attractive idea becomes a zettel. This is dangerous because most materials are full of interesting ideas: and barely anything that cannot be useful for our future selves. We will end up collecting everything on any reading material. This is counter projective because we will be collecting notes that we don’t have a specific function in mind because they might be useful in the future. I am afraid I will be just a junk of thousands of notes with little actual output.
I might have recorded my ideas in the zettel. But, those ideas of mine will evolve anyways. Surely, I will not be thinking the same in many years. The notes will be outdated, as my thinking evolves.
How are zettels better than any good database of pdf articles and books, (ideally with semantic search)?
- I am feeling that a modern advanced searching algorism (with a good database of pdf books and articles) can really replace most of what zettels are supposed to do.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Dec 3, 2018 at 12:03 PM
I appreciate that, Beck. The feeling is mutual.
Your videos really demonstrate how you can build complex and significant note-networks with mostly Tinderbox’s easier to grasp concepts. That’s always been my intended message.
Steve Z.
Beck wrote:
Hugh wrote:
>
>>videos (https://vimeo.com/user14236198) remain in my view (and, it
>>seems, also Beck Tench’s) the best way of learning the application, at
>
>Just wanted to confirm that this is 100% true. Steve, your posts are
>what 1) sold me on the software; 2) convinced me it was possible to get
>started; and 3) inspired much of the fiddling that led to how I’m
>presently using it.
>
>(I’m a big fan!)
Posted by Dellu
Dec 3, 2018 at 12:05 PM
I think I will open another discussion because the idea of keeping zetels is beyond the main objective of the video.