In many ways, Wikipedia can be viewed as a giant zettelkästen. Each note card still gets a unique identifier, often a number, and a link to the reference, but the internal linking system is much more intuitive. Where in Luhmann’s zettelkästen note cards were linked using a somewhat complex numbered and lettered system, in the modern zettelkästen you can use hyperlinks and keywords to link ideas. In the modern zettelkästen you can use hyperlinks and keywords to link ideas So how can the filing system of a German sociologist from the 1950s help the modern writer and researcher? Technology gives you the ability to make a zettelkästen of your own, without the cumbersome notecard making and filing process. Permanent note: The permanent note takes the literature notes and fleeting notes and adds them to the filing system, with the links and references in place.Įach note card needs to include a note that you will understand both now and in the future, written in your own words and properly connected to reference material.Keep paper and pencil on hand at all times, or use an app like Evernote, so your ideas are never lost. Fleeting notes: Fleeting notes are the notes you jot down when an idea comes to you.When you come across an idea that is of potential interest, write an index card that indicates where the idea was found. Literature notes: Literature notes are the notes you grab while reading or researching.He had three types of note cards in his system. In addition to the linking and filing method used, Luhmann developed a unique notecard-taking method. Note Card Types in the Zettelkästen Method It becomes more than just individual notes, but rather an interconnecting lattice of ideas that help with knowledge management. Not only do you need to work references into your note-taking method to connect your ideas back to the original source, but cross-references through links will also help when you use your own zettelkästen for research. References And Cross-ReferencesĪ key to a successful Zettelkästen is references and cross-references. Today, researchers don’t have to use note cards in a file box, but instead they can link their ideas electronically, but the basic idea of this process comes from Luhmann’s work. Many historians credit Luhmann’s linking system with the development of the modern hyperlink. He could constantly add new notes to the cards to link to various areas of his system, keeping his research organized at all times. Thus, when researching a particular idea, the note card he would pull would have links to other cards within the zettelkästen that have related research. Not only did he number the note cards to show how they related to the note cards before them, but he also added references, or links, to the note cards that connected them to other parts of the file system. One feature that made Luhmann’s note-taking system unique was his ability to link ideas. Watch the Become a Writer Today video on the Zettelkästen Method. This system can continue indefinitely, connecting ideas and adding new sub-ideas under the original ideas. 1/1a: Card connected to an idea on the original topic.As he researched further and found additional ideas to add to his notecards, he would add notes, linking them to the notes they connect to using more letters and numbers, such as: If that idea was a completely new one, it would get its own number or letter category to enter into the slip box. When Luhmann came across a new idea in his reading and research that he wanted to add to his database, he would write it on a physical notecard. Many have come to call this system the “atomic notecard” system because of the way it powerfully organizes knowledge to create a research workflow. Rather, it is the way he categorized those notecards. ![]() What made Luhmann’s note-taking method unique was not the fact that he wrote over 90,000 notecards, though that number is impressive. The Final Word on the Zettelkästen Method.Apps that Make the Zettelkästen System Work for the Modern Writer. ![]()
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