A Zettelkasten, Commonplace Books, and Note Taking Collection

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

Zettelkasten for Course Work

History

A One Paragraph Summary of Ahrens’ How to Take Smart notes from 1775-76 (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg)

Knowledge management practices on romantic display in George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871)

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 for 2024

Memindex update from August 2024

Memindex set up for 2026

Gloria Steinem’s Memindex from 1960

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

How to Make Notes and Write, a handbook by Dan Allosso and S.F. Allosso

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

The Macey Co. 16 Drawer Oak Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts

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.

Small bookends for use in file drawers

Pad and pen holder

File Tab 3 Inch Punch (McGill Incorporated)

Otagiri Pen and Index Card Holder

Other formats

Portions of this collection can be downloaded and read in the following formats:

.epub (last updated 2022-12-27)