# notes --- - [[{4.1} hierarchy vs network in knowledge management]] - [[people prefer to navigate file systems manually]] - [[the knowledge lifecycle is the series of steps you perform to turn knowledge into a finished product]] - [[virtual worlds lack natural landmarks we rely on irl]] - [[we don't need a universal taxonomy for universal connectivity]] ## to read - The Social Life of Information — John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid - Supersizing the Mind —Andy Clark - The Intelligent Use of Space — David Kirsh - Robert Horn’s 1969 paper on “information mapping”. - The Science of Managing Our Digital Stuff — Ofer Bergman and Steve Whittaker - Ambient Findability — Peter Morville # summary --- Tiago Forte historically hasn’t been a fan of tags — and I get it. It took me a long time to figure out why anyone would want to use tags over folders when hierarchies are unambiguous and more enduring. (And I still sometimes run into use-cases for tags that don’t make any sense to me.) But! This article actually didn’t resonate with me. Tiago presents four ways to use tags effectively in a PKM system: First, to tag items by action, deliverable, or its stage in your [[the knowledge lifecycle is the series of steps you perform to turn knowledge into a finished product|knowledge lifecycle]]. This makes sense to me, but he loses me when he talks about tagging by project; projects, to me, are fleeting. One of the things that kept me from using tags for so long was that I didn’t want to use tags that may not be relevant in 5-10 years (e.g I don’t tag tasks by client because they come and go; I don’t want my tag list to include Person A if I only worked with them for a couple of months). Second is to add structure to slowly. Again, I agree with this in principle, but I find his personal implementation confusing. Projects seem to heavily dictate the tags he uses, but I find that my notes make projects reveal themselves, not the other way around… Third is to use notes to add context — internal, external, social, and status. I agree that these are good use-cases. It makes sense to use tags to expand on a note’s *context* rather than duplicating the *content*. (In fact, adding context is why I started using more robust systems in general.) His final strategy for using tags is to develop customized “profession-specific” taxonomies. Again, I agree with this. I think it’s really interesting to see how much my own understanding of PKM has evolved since I first read Tiago’s work. PARA changed the way I saw my digital workspaces; guess we just have different perspectives on tagging! # highlights --- > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > - **Tags should be easy to remember**: since there is a limited number of actions you take with your notes, you have only a small number of options to remember > - **Tags should be easy to decide on**: it is usually easier to decide how a note is going to be used, rather than what it means or what it’s about > - **Tags should be concrete**: tagging according to actions and deliverables is far more concrete than theoretical categories > - **Tags should enable the right behaviors**: in this case, using tags to manage the stages of a workflow enables the productive use of knowledge, instead of mere cataloguing > - **Tags should be forgiving**: by maintaining tags as a supplement to a hierarchical organizational system, we reap most of their benefits without having to adhere to them perfectly > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > …four attributes of a piece of information that can be used to describe its “context.” >- Internal context includes the thoughts, feelings, associations, concerns, and considerations you have about a note >- External context includes the other items that you are dealing with while interacting with a note, such as other notes, documents, folders, or apps >- Social context refers to other people who are related to the note, such as project collaborators, the person who recommended the source, or who it was shared with >- Current status refers to any actions taken with the note, or any deliverables it was used in > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > Passionate debates about which is the “correct” taxonomy go back millennia. > > think it's important for me to understand historical context if i'm going to be thinking about this... although i still can't tell if that's really what i'm talkign about re anwtw > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > The goal has always been to create a single, completely comprehensive ordering of knowledge that any future idea can be placed into… > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > the virtual worlds we’ve created lack the natural landmarks we rely on in the natural world. They lack trees, rivers, seashores, and paths. In the digital world, we have to create them ourselves, out of words. > > gardening! > [!highlight]+ Thu May 16 2024 15:12:53 GMT-0400 > > the challenge today is not to conserve computer power, but to spend it.