Discovering Order in the Chaos: How Obsidian and Dataview Revolutionized My Reading Life
How I tamed the beast of digital notes and created a personalized PKM system for my reading journey.
“Your library is not just a collection of books; it’s a reflection of your growth and curiosity.”
— Me
As I sit amidst the sprawling chaos of my bookshelves, surrounded by stacks of papers, tabs, and bookmarks. A peculiar phenomenon occurs, amidst the disarray, I’m struck by a paradoxical sense of calm. The more I delve into the world of digital notes, the more I realize that my personal knowledge management system has become an enigma, wrapped in mystery, and shrouded in chaos.
It’s as if I’ve been staring at the wrong map all along, never realizing that there was another way to chart my intellectual journey. The tools themselves weren’t broken; it was how I wielded them that needed a drastic overhaul.
Intermission
Hello, my dear reader! As someone who has always been fascinated by the power of information, I’ve struggled with maintaining control over my thoughts and ideas. It’s not just about organizing books or notes — it’s an existential imperative to cultivate a sense of agency in the digital age. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my journey of transformation, as I stumbled upon Obsidian and Dataview. By embracing these powerful tools, I’ve created a virtual library that empowers me to navigate the complexity of knowledge with greater ease. Join me on this expedition into the realm of PKM, where we’ll explore how Obsidian and Dataview can revolutionize your own reading experience.
What is Obsidian and Dataview?
For those new to these tools, I’d like to take a moment to introduce them. Obsidian is a powerful note-taking app that enables effortless linking and editing of notes. Dataview, on the other hand, empowers users to create custom views and filters for their notes.
Streamlining My Reading Experience
As an avid reader, consistency is key to making meaningful progress. Between juggling multiple books, tracking my reading pace, and capturing key insights, chaos can ensue if not properly managed. This is where Dataview shines — I’ve created custom views that allow me to:
- Visualize my current reading list
- Monitor my to-read shelves
- Access detailed notes for each book
Here’s a sneak peek at what these views look like:
By leveraging Obsidian and Dataview, I’ve transformed my note-taking process into an organized library. Gone are the days of scrambling through notebooks and scattered notes.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Your Obsidian Vault
Ready to embark on a similar journey? Here’s how you can get started:
- Download and install Obsidian.
- Install essential plugins, including Dataview and Booksidian.
- Create custom views for your specific needs — I’ll share my query in the example below:
```dataview
Table author as Author,
("![](" + cover + ")") as Cover,
"Pages: " + pages as Pages,
"Rating: " + rating as Rating
From #Book
Where contains(file.path, "Book Shelves") and rating = 0 and dateRead != null
SORT file.name asc
```Conclusion
In conclusion, embracing Obsidian and Dataview has transformed my reading experience and empowered me to navigate knowledge with greater ease. These tools have brought order to the chaos of digital notes and opened up new avenues for progress and deeper insights. If you’re looking to enhance your reading experience and knowledge management system, I highly encourage you to explore Obsidian and Dataview. These tools have the potential to revolutionize your approach to reading and learning, regardless of whether you’re an avid reader, a student, or a knowledge enthusiast. Join me on this expedition into the realm of PKM and unlock the full potential of your reading life.
Editor’s Note
As always, thank you for reading this far. This blog can be considered a special ep because it’s requested from Thohirah. and I’m so happy to share the process of how I create my own PKM system. But if you have any questions or if you’d like to get in touch, here’s my contact information: bento
