Below I’ve aggregated a list of some of the longer articles and material I’ve written about these topics. The completist can find and search my site for even more specific material with these tags: zettelkasten, commonplace books, and note taking. I’ve also contributed a fair amount to the Wikipedia pages for zettelkasten and commonplace books.
General
- A note taking problem and a proposed solution
- Differentiating online variations of the Commonplace Book: Digital Gardens, Wikis, Zettlekasten, Waste Books, Florilegia, and Second Brains
- The Two Definitions of Zettelkasten
- Reframing and simplifying the idea of how to keep a Zettelkasten
- A Note on the Cargo Cult of Zettelkasten
- Thoughts on Zettelkasten numbering systems
- On The Interdisciplinarity of Zettelkasten: Card Numbering, Topical Headings, and Indices
- Different types of notes and use cases
- Zettelkasten Overreach
- Call for Model Examples of Zettelkasten Output Processes
- Note: Be sure to read the comments here for some useful examples.
- A note about my article on Goitein with respect to Zettelkasten Output Processes
- Rules against quotes in Zettelkasten? A closer look at Ahrens on Quotes and Collecting
- On Cohesion and Coherence of the Zettelkasten: Where Does the Work Reside?
- A quick survey of academics, teachers, and researchers blogging about note taking practices and zettelkasten-based methods
- Useful books, articles, and miscellaneous manuals
History
- A One Paragraph Summary of Ahrens’ How to Take Smart notes from 1775-76 (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg)
- Zettelkasten Method State of the Art in 1898
- Death by Zettelkasten!! (L’Île des Pingouins by Anatole France, 1908)
- Zettelkasten History Prior to Niklas Luhmann: Antonin Sertillanges
- Review of “On Intellectual Craftsmanship” (1952) by C. Wright Mills
- The Zettelkasten Method of Note Taking Mirrors Most of the Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Contextualizing Cornell Notes in the Note Taking Traditions
- First Use of Zettelkasten in an English Language Setting?
- The Memindex Method: an early precursor of the Memex, Hipster PDA, 43 Folders, GTD, BaSB, and Bullet Journal systems
Productivity
- The Memindex Method: an early precursor of the Memex, Hipster PDA, 43 Folders, GTD, BaSB, and Bullet Journal systems
- A year of Bullet Journaling on Index Cards inspired by the Memindex Method (see esp. comments for Q&A)
- Memindex set up photo
Hypothes.is
- Hypothes.is, a web annotation tool, as an off-label zettelkasten?!
- An Outline for Using Hypothesis for Owning your Annotations and Highlights
- Hypothes.is + Obsidian = Hypothesidian for easier note taking and formatting
- Creating a commonplace book or zettelkasten index from Hypothes.is tags
Miscellaneous Topics
- Self-hosting TiddlyWiki with GitHub Pages
- Pen and paper publishing to your website? PaperWebsite is on to something.
- Handwriting my Website with a Digital Amanuensis
- On Note Taking: Putting Ideas into a Crib
- Does Spirit hide in the filing cabinet?
- Thoughts on open notebooks, research, and social media
- Where are the Zettelkasten memes?!?
- On the Jokerzettel: An Apocalyptic Interpretation of Luhmann’s note ZKII 9/8j
- Scaffolding “Secret” Knowledge: An analogy for teachers of thinkers, creators, readers, and writers
Practical Examples
- Vocabulary notebooks, Criminally Insane Asylum Patients, Zettelkasten, the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, and Digital Dictionaries (1857, 1894, 1897)
- Some notes on Aby Warburg: Metamorphosis and Memory (1866-1929)
- The Idea File of Harold Adams Innis (1894-1952)
- Lifestyles of the Note Takers & Intellectuals: Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)
- S.D. Goitein’s Card Index (or Zettelkasten) (1900-1985)
- Mortimer J. Adler’s Syntopicon: a topically arranged collaborative slipbox (1942-1952)
- Anne Frank’s Zettelkasten (1943)
- A Quick Look at Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Zettelkasten: Zettel 1967
- Eminem and Stacking Ammo (2010)
- Victor Margolin’s zettelkasten process for note taking and writing (2015)
- Santa’s Magnificent Zettelkasten: The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
- Chris Rock’s zettelkasten output process (2023)
Texts
Boxes
- The Ultimate Guide to Zettelkasten Index Card Storage
- Brodart Library Supplies for the Analog Zettelkasten Enthusiast
- Satelite Combination Card Index Cabinet and Telephone Stand
- Market analysis of library card catalogs in 2023
- FireKing Index Card Filing Cabinet: Rock Solid Zettelkasten Storage for Under 10¢ per card
Boxes I personally own and use
- Steelcase 8 Drawer Steel Card Index Filing Cabinet for 4 x 6 inch cards
- Midcentury Gaylord Bros., Inc. Oak Modular Library Card Catalog Acquisition
- Vintage wooden desk top Shaw-Walker 11 inch card index for 3 x 5″ cards
- Singer Business Furniture 20 gauge steel industrial 16 drawer index card filing cabinet
- Vintage desktop Remington Rand 10 5/8 inch card index for 3 x 5″ cards
- Shaw-Walker Two Drawer Quarter Sawn Wooden Card Index File for 4 x 6″ Cards
- Library charging trays for vertically oriented 3 x 5″ index cards
Accessories
- Index Card Accessories for Note Taking on the Go
- Custom Zettelkasten Stationery?
- Review: Stockroom+ Grid Ruled 4 x 6 Inch Index Cards
- Review of King Jim A6 size horizontal Flatty Works case #5460
- DIY: Index Card Notepad
- Index Card Cases, Wallets, Covers, Pouches, etc.
Other formats
Portions of this collection can be downloaded and read in the following formats:
.epub (last updated 2022-12-27)
@chrisaldrich …your script modification for hypothesis to obsidian is what we’re using in the class BTW. Thanks!
@chrisaldrich @hyde @adamsdeskOoh, saved for future reference when I’m done with this insane amount of schoolwork. 😉
@chrisaldrich @benjaminhollon @adamsdesk Nice collection ! Thanks for providing it 🙂
This week’s piece is taking me more time to both research and hammer out the arguments and I already missed my largely self-imposed deadline of…
Many may recall that I’ve been refinishing vintage mid-century furniture for over a decade now. I’ve also been more cognizant of converting my commonplace book…
@chrisaldrich wow. Great effort!
Amidst my seemingly ever-growing collection of index card boxes and trays, I’ve been contemplating getting something that would store cards in a vertical orientation rather…
@chrisaldrich Thanks! Looks like a ton of great stuff.
Frequently newcomers to the note taking space or one of the many tools used within it are curious to see others who are using these…
On a quick front-of-the-index card calculation, I realize that with the recent Steelcase cabinet acquisition, I now have 8 boxes comprising 61 drawers and 103.25 feet of storage space for approximately 172,296 index cards. Having spent a total of $786.52 on them over the past year this comes out at about $12.89 per drawer, which is fantastically under the $14-25 ubiquitous 11″ cardboard boxes for such a massive step up in quality and longevity.