Use Obsidian plugin ‘Graph Analysis’ for Tags.
Using old fashioned two-tier tags and technology to bullet proof your tagging system.
A tagging system can be frustrating. Ask anyone who has adopted some form or another for a Zettelkasten or PKM. Tags are often used as an index that allows users to create “entry points” into their note-taking system. The same marker can “cluster” similar notes regarding a topic or focus. ¹ A third form of tag, i.e., “related,” ² is perhaps the most potent form of tagging and is the most difficult without technology.
Red Gregory’s two-tag system³ covers the typical “tag as an index” and “tagging to gather clusters” of notes. Red’s video expresses it as an “x, y, z” assessment. For example, “Is the note about x?” if not, “Can it be filed in drawer y?” and “is the note related to z?” Red uses an example, i.e., when viewed as a file cabinet, the “drawer” (y) could be Productivity, and Time-Management is the “file” (x) within the drawer.
The z element or “relations” I submit offers the highest probability of luck in connecting knowledge through a management system (PKM). However, defining luck as the “development of events by chance,” i.e., serendipity occurs because areas are connected but “lead away” from the central theme. ⁴ Therefore, “relations” tagging offers the highest potential reward and is simultaneously the most challenging to achieve through backlinks alone. Thankfully, developers “SkepticMystic and Emile” have originated the Obsidian plug-in “Graph Analysis,” consisting of a “set of algorithms that computes useful relations between the notes in your vault.” ⁵
Consider Red Gregory’s example above. If “Productivity” is my main tag and “Time Management” is my secondary (focus) tag. What are all the potential relationship tags to “Time Management,” which could offer insight? Not just to “where something is cited” but also “why, or with whom, or what it is cited!” ⁶ “Time” and “Manage” have a high correlation, but what about “Method” or “Results?” If I move my relationship to “Time,” can I gain additional insight by considering “Chaos” and “Complexity?” How about “Happiness” and “Activity?” I have notes scattered throughout my Zettelkasten where “Happiness,” “Chaos,” “Complexity,” and “Kairos” all connect to Time Management in one way or another. And what, if anything, does Herbert A. Simon’s quote about “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” ⁷ have to do with time management? Possibly nothing in the context, I am currently studying, perhaps everything. However, it is exciting to have a technology gather and rank my various co-citations and give “extra weight when two notes are cited close together” ⁸ for me to consider when studying.
Summary of Blog article posted simultaneously at Linda’s Brick Barn.
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Footnotes:
- https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/15091/#Comment_15091
- https://www.redgregory.com/notion/2020/9/14/how-i-organize-my-notes-and-automate-tags-in-notion?rq=Tags
- Ibid
- Thomas, E. (2020, August 23). Understanding Zettelkasten — What it means to communicate with the slip-box. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://medium.com/@ethomasv/understanding-zettelkasten-d0ca5bb1f80e
- https://github.com/SkepticMystic/graph-analysis
- Ibid
- https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8502027-in-an-information-rich-world-the-wealth-of-information-means-a#:~:text=Quote%20by%20Herbert%20A.%20Simon%3A%20%E2%80%9CIn%20an%20information-rich,obvious%3A%20it%20consumes%20the%20attention%20of%20its%20recipients.
- Ibid (SkepticMystic)
