Here you find a list of tested tools to implement your own zettelkasten knowledge management system. Hello alessandro, zettelkasten is a natively a german program. Zettelkasten according to luhmann this program is based on the working principle of niklas luhmanns famous zettelkasten slip box, file card system. In taking smart notes, luhmann is described as transferring the important thoughts from the day into zettel. The author draws on a variety of research dealing with attention, learning, cognition, etc. That was good enough for him and for all of us when looking at how productive he was with it.
Johannes is the guardian of the godfathers zettelkasten, and his work is genuinely interesting for knowledge work nerds. Introduction into luhmanns zettelkastenthinking and its technical implementation this lecture gives an introduction into a specific scholarly technique of reading and excerpting texts and. An electronic zettelkasten slip box, file card system according to niklas. Dec 31, 2019 luhmann wrote over 70 books and more than 400 scholarly articles using the zettelkasten notetaking method. A wonderful introduction in luhmann s system of a zettelkasten are the slides of a talk by daniel ludecke.
Plain text notes with the archive and zettelkasten the. Anyone using the zettelkasten system created by luhmann. A wonderful introduction in luhmanns system of a zettelkasten are the slides of a talk by daniel ludecke. Luhmanns zettelkasten a productivity tool that works like. Niklas luhmann, a social scientist who researched and wrote over 70 books, used halfsheets of paper because they were large enough to be useful and compact enough to store easily. A simple but powerful tool for organizing information and thinking. A structured note taking system descended from sociologist and functionalist, niklas luhmann. If you want to know more about the history of the zettelkasten method, check out the ongoing research on luhmanns zettelkasten by johannes schmidt at bielefeld university. Dec 31, 2019 you dont need to buy some expensive software or, god forbid, a big clunky set of wooden drawers like luhmanns original zettelkasten. Today, you can also accomplish the same sort of thing thanks to using various software. There are several requirements that make luhmanns zettelkasten method work. It is about reshaping my relationship to reading, research, and writing altogether.
Welcome to the homepage of the zettelkasten slip box, file card system for your computer. Early this year, conor whitesullivan introduced me to the zettelkasten method of notetaking. First, i should say that i write everything in markdown, so i wont be going into all the general markdown tools for sublime text. I was giving a talk at trier digital humanities autumn school 2015 on luhmanns way of working with his zettelkasten, and how i implemented this technique in the electronic zettelkasten. Devonthink as a zettelkasten note archive luhmanns zettelkasten with. This concept is more than just the place to store zetteln. Aug 01, 2019 the archive is built around the needs of a modern, digital approximation of the zettelkasten. With the zettelkasten, you can manage your daily work with scientific papers or texts much more easily and effectively. The core principle of luhmanns way to manage his notes was a combination of selective tagging, manual links between notes and a sequence of short notes. However, niklas luhmann used such a box in a very specific way for his academic work. In a traditional zettelkasten you start with blank cards and this software gives you an open text editor with formatting tools, no form fields in the text area.
For context, during his life luhmann published more than 70 books and 400 scholarly articles on various subjects. A software solution has the advantages that it saves space, is portable and you can collaborate with people. You can create an intelligent knowledge base with just a handful of note cards and a pencil. I have been considering a few zettelkasten solutions and finally ive settled down for vimwiki. Word counter mac to track your productivity by christian. Moreover, he wrote broadly, delving into subjects as diverse was ecology, economy, and love. Niklas luhmann was renowned for his zettelkasten and called it his. If luhmann was content to put just text on zettels and connect them in his zettelkasten, then fine. This will be nice as dt is also pointed at my pdfs stored in bookends that are on icloud. For luhmann, the society and all subsystems are autopoietic systems. Luhmann claimed that the zettelkasten is responsible for his productivity. This method was devised by german sociologist niklas luhmann, who used it as an aid in his research throughout his life 1. It is secure, well supported and a great app to use.
Naturally, this sort of thing is difficult to quantify. Something to store your references and literature i recommend zotero the slipbox, the place to store your permanent notes and develop your thoughts. Its possible to update the information on zkn zettelkasten or report it as discontinued, duplicated or spam. I started as an undergraduate with handwritten index cards, but the obvious advantages of electronic files fast.
The software appears to be pushing concepts that would have been impossible in luhmanns system. Workflow of luhmann s principle in the electronic zettelkasten think about the topic or subject, where a new note fits into find a starting point in the zettelkasten related to this topic and start reading exploring your existing notes sequences decide whether the note is the start of a new topic sequence. More software at this location, along with ways to use e. Apr 11, 2019 you dont need any fancy hardware or software to build a zettelkasten. The truth is, i think it may be more like 3x, especially along the dimension of producing ideas and also earlystage. Emvi blog luhmanns zettelkasten a productivity tool. Yet, to characterize it as a personal or desktop wiki does not even begin to do justice to it. During his almost 40 years of research, he published more than 70 books and over 400 scholarly articles on a wide variety of. The key to good and efficient writing lies in the intelligent organisation of ideas and notes. He could never look through his zk to find term1 next8 term2 find term1 one within 8 words of term2. Connectedtext is a powerful but simple information management system. Popular alternatives to zkn zettelkasten for mac, windows, linux, web, ipad and. Pdf introduction into luhmanns zettelkastenthinking and its. Niklas luhmann was a german sociologist and system theorist.
Digitale variante eines klassischen zettelkastens, um zitate oder. In this post i will outline how i implement that method in sublime text. Luhmanns zettelkasten with devonthink organizing creativity. Luhmanns zettelkasten a productivity tool that works. What is revolutionary for me about the zettelkasten is the whole concept itself. The archive is built around the needs of a modern, digital approximation of the zettelkasten. A software solution has the advantages that it saves space, is portable. Paperbased solution if you want to go old school and implement a paperbased solution, all you got to do is get a shoebox or similar container and a set of index cards or paper that youve cut up into. Translation of a quote by luhmann zettelkasten forum. Niklas luhmann, a social scientist who researched and wrote over 70 books, used halfsheets of paper because they were large enough to be useful and compact enough to store. Pdf introduction into luhmanns zettelkastenthinking and. In this blog post, we try to clean up some common misconceptions on what a zettelkasten is and invite you to watch our new video on what a zettelkasten is.
Zettelkasten according to luhmann for windows, mac os x and linux. Both the storing and filing of important articles, excerpts and quotes as. This program is based on the working principle of niklas luhmann s famous zettelkasten. Pdf introduction into luhmanns zettelkastenthinking and its technical. I would say that this significantly increased my research productivity. Workflow of luhmanns principle in the electronic zettelkasten think about the topic or subject, where a new note fits into find a starting point in the zettelkasten related to this topic and start reading exploring your existing notes sequences decide whether the note is the start of a new topic sequence. Nov 25, 2019 luhmann used the zettelkasten slipbox to sort his mind. If you want to know more about the history of the zettelkasten method, check out the ongoing research on luhmann s zettelkasten by johannes schmidt at bielefeld university. It is based on the zettelkasten slip box of niklas luhmann, a german sociologist, who had a really big physical analogue zettelkasten. I learned many new details without having to revise my earlier views. I recommend the program zettelkasten by daniel ludecke, but you can also use other programs or even pen and paper.
This book helps students, academics and nonfiction writers to get more done, write intelligent texts and learn for. May 11, 2015 in the last post i talked about the general idea of the zettelkasten method for taking notes. Ultimately it seems that all these information systems are just different. Ultimately it seems that all these information systems are just different implementations of nodes, edges, and containers.
I was inspired by niklas luhmann s zettelkasten, whom i read voraciously as a teenager. To start your own zettelkasten, you can use a physical one just like luhmann did or use a digital implementation. Luhmann implemented the folgezettel technique by making use of a certain method to assign unique identifiers ids. Holy crap, just had my first instance of surprise my zettelkasten gave me. I personally use zettel even though i am a native englishspeaker though with fondness for german. Zettelkasten according to luhmann this program is based on the working principle of niklas luhmann s famous zettelkasten slip box, file card system.
Zkn zettelkasten alternatives and similar software. Last weekend i discovered a method for notetaking called zettelkasten. Plain text notes with the archive and zettelkasten. Luhmanns zettelkasten a productivity tool that works like your. Communicating with slip boxes translation of kommunikation mit zettelkasten. All you really need is to understand how the system works. Beck uses tinderbox software to create a hyperorganized system of.
Not only does it store all types of data, it allows you to add meta data and search for connected words. Luhmann used the zettelkasten slipbox to sort his mind. Introduction to luhmanns zettelkasten thinking and its. I tend to think of these types of books as selfhelp for academics, but in the best way. I started as an undergraduate with handwritten index cards, but the obvious advantages of electronic files fast search, cutpaste, easy backup, doesnt need physical space were immediately clear to me, so i moved to a computerbased system. Tableflip mac, a markdown table editor by christian. Was adding a note on x, and then made a connection to p, q and even r something in topic of psychologyactualism. The german zettelkasten method book, written by sascha.
Sheffler, on the other hand, keeps a gap of at least 24 hours between taking down engagement notes and deciding what belongs in. I miss the days of software storing data on my computer or where i want. Zkn zettelkasten sometimes referred to as zkn, zettelkasten was added by fadfjg in oct 2010 and the latest update was made in nov 2014. Zettelkasten how one german scholar was so freakishly. Zettelkasten knowledge and info management zettelkasten method. Mar 21, 2019 many people implicitly ask us what a zettelkasten is by coming to our page by searching for zettelkasten tutorials online. You dont need any fancy hardware or software to build a zettelkasten. In taking smart notes, luhmann is described as transferring the important thoughts from the day into zettel every evening. A slipbox, also known as a card index or zettelkasten in german, is where niklas luhmann would store all of his permanent notes on index cards.