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Victor Margolin’s zettelkasten process for note taking and writing
It’s not as refined or as compartmentalized as Niklas Luhmann’s process, but art historian Victor Margolin broadly outlines his note taking and writing process in reasonable detail in this excellent...
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Index Card Accessories for Note Taking on the Go
Index Card “Notebooks”? Before I go the DIY route, has anyone seen gummed 4 x 6″ index cards available for sale? I’d love to have a bunch of index cards temporarily glued together almost in notebook...
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The Ultimate Guide to Zettelkasten Index Card Storage
Invariably, when one is starting out on their analog zettelkasten or index-card based commonplace book journey, one of the first questions besides what size and type of cards should I use, is...
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Santa’s Magnificent Zettelkasten: The Christmas Chronicles
Of course Santa Claus would have the most spectacular zettelkasten in the world! He’s got billions of people and gifts for them to keep track of, so naturally he’s got a stupendous card index filing...
View ArticleFull RSS feeds for Mastodon Instances with OpenRSS
I’ve wanted full RSS feeds for several Mastodon instances for ages. They can be particularly useful for small instances (aka communities) with slow posting velocity—you know, that instance you wanted...
View ArticleS.D. Goitein’s Card Index (or Zettelkasten)
Abstract Scholar and historian S.D. Goitein built and maintained a significant collection of over 27,000 notes in the form of a card index (or zettelkasten1) which he used to fuel his research and...
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A note about my article on Goitein with respect to Zettelkasten Output Processes
Not long ago I made a Call for Model Examples of Zettelkasten Output Processes. To answer a part of that call and to highlight my own reading, note taking, and writing process, in the production of...
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On The Interdisciplinarity of Zettelkasten: Card Numbering, Topical Headings,...
As humans we’re terrifically spectacular at separating things based on perceived categories. The Dewey Decimal System systematically separates mathematics and history into disparate and distinct...
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On the Jokerzettel: An Apocalyptic Interpretation of Luhmann’s note ZKII 9/8j
Niklas Luhmann’s Jokerzettel 9/8j Many have asked about the meaning of Niklas Luhmann’s so-called jokerzettel over the past several years. 9/8j Im Zettelkasten ist ein Zettel, der das Argument...
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A Note on the Cargo Cult of Zettelkasten
Modern cargo cults can be seen in many technology and productivity spaces where people are pulled in by exaggerated (or sometimes even real claims) of productivity or the general “magic” of a...
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Acquisition: Shaw-Walker Furniture Company 4 drawer vintage filing cabinet
On February 7th, I picked up a Shaw-Walker 4 drawer filing cabinet that someone had decided to leave for scrap. Despite some serious rust and a few physical holes on the bottom, most of the cabinet is...
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Day Two and Three Refinishing the Shaw-Walker Filing Cabinet
Yesterday I spent several more hours on the Shaw-Walker. I finished removing as much of the rust as I could and did the final rounds of sanding with the 60 grit and 100 grit sandpaper. I vacuumed away...
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Rules against quotes in Zettelkasten? A closer look at Ahrens on Quotes and...
I’ve seen several places in the note taking or zettelkasten communities the general advice that one should not include quotes in or amongst their notes. The general source of this “rule” seems to stem...
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The Memindex Method: an early precursor of the Memex, Hipster PDA, 43...
Wilson Memindex Co., Rochester, NY It was fascinating to run across the Memindex, a productivity tool from the Wilson Memindex Co., advertised in a December 1906 issue of System: The Magazine of...
View ArticleFirst Use of Zettelkasten in an English Language Setting?
The idea of having and maintaining a Zettelkasten has become increasingly popular since the »Zettelkästen. Maschinen der Phantasie« exhibition at Marbach in March 2013 and the appearance of the website...
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A Quick Look at Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Zettelkasten: Zettel 1967
In response to a post last week, Stephen Downes reminded me that Ludwig Wittgenstein had a zettelkasten practice. In particular there is a translated and published book Zettel from 1967 which contains...
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Vintage wooden desk top Shaw-Walker 11 inch card index for 3 x 5″ cards
I’ve been watching the secondary market for used card indexes for a while and finally caved and purchased a vintage wooden desk top Shaw-Walker 11 inch card index for 3 x 5″ index cards. It was dusty...
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1948 Smith-Corona “Clipper”
Childhood Typewriters I’ve had a hollow space in my chest where a typewriter wanted to be. I’d had a few inexpensive plastic ones in my childhood before having a really spectacular Smith-Corona, but I...
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Review of King Jim A6 size horizontal Flatty Works case #5460 🗃️
Back on April 7th on a visit to the Kinokuniya bookstore/Maido stationery shop in the Santa Anita Mall, I picked up an A6 size horizontal Flatty Works case #5460 (forest green, H4.8×W6.8×D1.4in) made...
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Vintage desktop Remington Rand 10 5/8 inch card index for 3 x 5″ cards
I’ve bought (yet another) card index on April 22nd. This must mean that I’m officially a collector, but if I keep this up I may have to start a museum soon. This model is a Remington Rand Library...
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