What's Your "List of Three" (books to start with Zettelkasten)

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Books about Personal Knowledge Management and Zettelkasten.

Edmund

When I ask my Zettelkasten for a list of books about Zettelkasten, it shows me more than one book:

But as you can see, most of them have a "backlog" status. Is it necessary to read all of them? I decided to shorten the list to "useful books". And here is my list of three:

How does your list of three looks like?

Sukhovskii

@Edmund Challenge accepted!

Edmund

I love it. 😀👍 But which book to read first?

Will

@Edmund Challenge accepted!

Sukhovskii

@Edmund said:
I love it. 😀👍 But which book to read first?

Same sequence as in the picture. I also like @Will 's picks.

rl911

Edmund's question about books on the Zettelkasten has prompted a critical revision of my book collection

My favourites in these years (2023/2024) are the following three books:

Zettelwirtschaft: Markus Krajewski
repeatedly since 2002, as an overview of the methodological and technical base of Luhmann's Zettelkasten

Sönke Ahrens: The Slipbox Principle
since 2018, as a combination of the classic Zettelkasten-strategy with the potential of the personal computer.

Ivo Velitchkov: Personal Knowledge Graphs
since 2023, as an outlook on the potential of the clearer integration of notes and connections through vector systems. Gains additional importance through LLMs.

JasperMcFly

@rl911 Which chapter in Zettelwirtschaft do you feel has the best overview of the " methodological and technical base of Luhmann's Zettelkasten"? The English translation of the book, Paper Machines , does not go into any detail about Luhmann's specific methods.

rl911

@JasperMcFly Luhmann's Zettelkasten itself is not the subject of the
book but the predecessors. The chapter "Box/Thinking" p. 64ff (Kasten/Denken) offers a brief overview from Gassner 1548 to the new storage systems of the 19th century. The term "basis" refers to the predecessors of Luhmann Zettelkasten. Luhmann, a lawyer, initially used the "scholarly machines" (Gelehrtenmaschinen) of writers and the index card systems of bureaucrats for his job in administration and later for the development of his systems theory.

JasperMcFly

Ok, thank you for your reply. I am a big fan of Krajewski's writing. Just wanted to make sure the English translation was not missing something. Thank you.

ZettelDistraction

Bob Doto's book, newly available on Amazon, is probably the most straightforward book I've read. The examples are very helpful. Here is the reference (note: no links--no one can accuse me of affiliate marketing):

Doto, Bob. A System for Writing: How an Unconventional Approach to Note-Making Can Help You Capture Ideas, Think Wildly, and Write Constantly - A Zettelkasten Primer.

Johannes Schmidt's research papers are excellent, though they aren't books.

Ivo Velitchkov's book is a dreary mixed bag that recasts old ideas as if they were new. In place of that, there's the old, reliable "How to take smart notes," by Sonke Ahrens, which Bob Doto's book makes obsolete.

harr

One book and two papers:

• Sönke Ahrens (2022): How to Take Smart Notes. 2nd edition.
• Johannes Schmidt (2016): Niklas Luhmann‘s Card Index: Thinking Tool, Communication Partner, Publication Machine.
• Niklas Luhmann (1981): Communicating with Slip Boxes. (German original: Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen).

And of course the real deal, Luhmann's original Zettelkasten, starting at ZK II Zettel 9/8.