#methodology note

✶ Zettels (aka "Tiddlers")

"Zettel" is German for "paper slip" and this is how I refer to my notes; notes in Tiddlywiki are also affectionately called "tiddlers." All of my zettels are tagged with a 10-character unique ID comprised of the date followed by a period and the time in military notation: YYMMDD.TTTT

All zettels on principal should have at least one inbound link (even if that is just through being filed under a collection note or source note) and at least one outbound link (even if it is just a keyword tag).

This said, links should not be made arbitrarily. All notes–even those without a source, keyword tags, or inline note-hyperlinks–can be resurfaced through the search function. Thus connections should only be made authentically and organically, and not just for the sake of having links.

✶ Structure Notes

If a zettel has no unique date-time ID, that means it is a structure note. I use a few different kinds of structure notes:

Collection Notes: These notes collect useful entry points into a broad topic or theme, or describe and map useful relationships between a group of notes that have to do with a particular project or topic of interest.

Keyword Note: This note compiles selective-expandable lists of all keyword tags.

Source Notes: These are notes containing information about a reference. The body of the note is simply the source information. Links to source notes may appear as a tag on a zettel &/or within the body of the zettel as a citation.

I treat my own physical journals just like any other source. Any note that contains thinking developed in my journals will include that journal as a source. This allows for my Journals hub note to provide a second way to view and sort notes (by the original timeline in which I was engaging with sources and developing ideas). My own published works may also be referenced as sources.