We can collect data and information a more passive process , and on the whole it adds little value. But as soon as we start adding, integrating and linking pieces of data and information together, we can start to create knowledge and wisdom an active process. Doing this also allows for synthesis, building your own narratives, finding your own conclusions, and — as the final step of personal knowledge management — creating something and sharing it.
That might still sound a bit vague, but once we start looking at the different personal knowledge management system it hopefully becomes more clear. The good or bad news is that there are many different systems and tools that you can pick from — good in that it there are different options depending on what you want, and bad because it takes a bit of effort to pick the right system to get started.
The details of how you manage information and knowledge can always be filled in later, but the system itself is harder to change.
So spend some time upfront to think about how you take notes, how you want to manage and curate information, and — in general — what your overall approach to knowledge management is going to be. Paper or digital? In order to help with the below overview shows the most common personal knowledge management systems and their advantages and disadvantages. Commonplace books are arguably the oldest form of a personal knowledge management system.
Some people might treat a commonplace book more as a diary, others like a collection of personal wisdom, and others yet as a simple compilation of notes on a specific topic.
It was a popular solution throughout history, and a wide range of people used it: from Marcus Aurelius to Leonardo da Vinci, and from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Isaac Newton, for example. But this simple set-up also has distinct disadvantages. An index card system is quite similar to a commonplace book, but with a few significant upsides.
As with a commonplace book information is recorded on paper, but instead of using a notebook, every note gets its own separate index card. Ryan Holiday documented his index card system in a good article , and credits the setup to Robert Greene who uses a similar system.
Some of my research for new book covering the Sublime. This method originates with Niklas Luhmann , a prolific professor of sociology. In many ways it works similarly to an index card system described earlier.
You read, find pieces of information, and then convert them into notes. The difference with a traditional index card system lies in the organization of the notes. In a Zettelkasten system the key is not to think about predefined topics or themes, but to look at entry points. In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble on it again?
So rather than fitting the notes to predefined topics, use the natural accumulation of clusters of notes to create them. This makes it possible for everyone to access this information, whether they work with it directly or not. In practice, knowledge management systems are often called intranets or extranets.
These platforms allow employees from different departments to collaborate and share their ideas easily. In addition, content can be shared with customers and external partners who have access to the platform. In some companies, employees go even further and create wikis where they share everything from documents and presentations. In the 21st century, the world is becoming more and more connected.
In light of this, it becomes very important to have a way to organize all of your knowledge — both personal and professional — so that you can access it whenever you need it. This database will be made up of videos, books, articles, or anything that helps us learn about a topic or educate ourselves on something new. It could contain anything from summaries from podcasts to blog posts from different sources around the web.
With personal knowledge management, you can easily retrieve the data stored on your computer or smartphone at any time. A personal knowledge system is a key to success in all spheres of life. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content. Experimenting with digital brain software It looks like I have a bit of a new obsession this week: the digital brain.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. So the key collaboration tools by now should be familiar to any KM practitioner: messaging, shared workspaces, discussion and chat apps, expertise locators, etc. Some community-of-practice aids build in functions to maintain the social fabric of the group. There are also facilitation tools such as brainstorming software and electronic whiteboards, tele- and videoconferencing systems and, of course, water coolers and coffee machines.
Increasingly, the tools for virtual meetings and capturing the content of face-to-face meetings are available to the average individual.
NetMeeting microsoft. But more than any other, this category emphasizes how much tools must be subordinated to skills and values. Social, emotional and political competencies cannot be automated and they have much more to do with the success of teams, networks and communities than do the tools.
Finally, if knowledge has value, then that value is worth protecting. There are certainly enough tools to control access to digital systems, but today's emphasis on security overemphasizes inoculation from viruses, insulation from hackers and encryption of sensitive communications. More valuable information is given away through lazy disregard for common-sense principles and practices.
Likewise, we rely too much on contractual safeguards to preserve the value of intellectual capital. For individuals, there are ways to share their knowledge without losing credit for it or control over it. For example, Adobe Acrobat allows users to distribute completely formatted, easy-to-read documents with strict controls on whether they can be printed, altered or marked up.
In coming months, this column will look at more PKM tools in these seven categories. Meanwhile, feel free to suggest tools for inclusion or comment on how well the framework fits your knowledge work.
Steve Barth writes and speaks frequently about KM, e-mail barth.
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