In "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" (1952), C. Wright Mills talks about his methods for note taking, thinking, and analysis in what he calls "sociological imagination". This is a sociologists' framing of their own research and analysis practice and thus bears a sociological related name. While he talks more about the thinking, outlining, and writing process rather…
Many people mistakenly credit Niklas Luhmann with the invention of the zettelkasten method, so I've been delving into historical note taking practices. I've recently come across a well known and influential book on historical method from the late 1800s that has well described version of the slip (box) method. Originally published in French in 1897…
There aren't many published copies of annotated books out there, but you can get a limited edition replica of Francis Ford Coppola's prompt book The Godfather Notebook for the movie's 50th anniversary. It includes Coppola's handwritten annotations on Mario Puzo's novel.
Given many of the misconceptions I see online of how to keep a zettelkasten, particularly given the focus on the arcane addressing system used by Niklas Luhmann, perhaps it may be helpful to dramatically reframe the question of how to keep a zettelkasten? One page blog posts from people who've only recently seen the idea…
I thought it might be useful to have a relatively complete list of cross linked topical headings in my digital notebook (currently Obsidian) which is a mélange of wiki, zettelkasten, journal, project management tool, notebook, and productivity tool. First, let's be honest that mélange is too poetic based on what I see of how others…
Tiago, I've started into an advanced copy of your forthcoming book and at the end of the introduction you have a footnote: Other popular terms for such a system include Zettelkasten (meaning “slipbox” in German, coined by influential sociologist Niklas Luhmann), Memex (a word invented by American inventor Vannevar Bush), and digital garden (named by…
For those who don't want to create a Zotero account for the tools for thought group, here's the list as of 2022-05-07. It doesn't include the tags, folder structure, or related Zotero meta data, but it will give an idea of some of the current contents. We're happy to provide credentials to the group for…
This small, green pocket memo book with a "frame" layout seems to be the perfect form factor for short handwritten notes to post to Twitter. A Twitter notebook if you will. Thanks Midori.
I worry that I may be putting too much faith in the seemingly magical powers of a new Hobonichi Techo to make 2022 a better year than 2020 or 2021.
An intriguing Christmas present from @iA !! The Notebook For Writers, where “the guides disappear — leaving nothing but plain, clear, aligned text.” pic.twitter.com/MiBCV0qtRj
If iA is getting into physical notebooks, I'm hoping they'll also attach the other leg of the triangle with their app's Micropub support and allow me to publish my handwriting to my website. See: https://boffosocko.com/2021/12/20/55799844/ for details.
A Capital User Interface Idea A few weeks ago I saw Ben Stokes' post about PaperWebsite.com and my immediate reaction was, "I have to be able to do that!" I've long enjoyed writing by hand over typing as the tactile feel of of pen or pencil and paper is such an enjoyable one. I particularly…
I recently finished reading* The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow; I enjoyed it very much indeed. I thought I’d write a two parts review for CT, and here’s the first – I will p…
I've only begun reading the text for a book club being run by historian Dan Allosso who is also doing an experiment in a communally shared wiki/notebook platform Obsidian, but I'm quite curious about the Neolithic pieces relating to the inhabitants at Stonehenge. In particular, I've recently finished Lynne Kelly's research in Knowledge and Power…
The annual page for IndieWeb New Year's Commitments is up. I always have trouble with coming up with something new and interesting to work on. (There are really so many things, to be honest, and so many that I ought to do, but which seem so droll... What might be fun!?!) I was recently enamored…
Handwriting to Website #FTW While browsing today I ran across an awesome concept called PaperWebsite.com. It allows you to write on paper, take a photo, and then upload it to a website. Your handwritten words published to your website. A tactile writer's dream. My immediate thought—I need to have this now! Articles written by hand…
Over the years in academic settings I've picked up pieces of Spanish, French, Latin and a few odd and ends of other languages. Six years ago we put our daughter into a dual immersion Japanese program (in the United States) and it has changed some of my view of how we teach and learn languages,…
