MOC (Map of Content)
How do you approach the MOC (Map of Content) concept in your Zettelkasten?
Do you use it regularly? If so, how do you structure and maintain your MOCs over time?
I don't really find one nice way to set it up.
Howdy, Stranger!
How do you approach the MOC (Map of Content) concept in your Zettelkasten?
Do you use it regularly? If so, how do you structure and maintain your MOCs over time?
I don't really find one nice way to set it up.
Comments
These are commonly called structure notes around here, and there are many past discussions about them, if you didn't know. For example:
And here's a blog post by @Sascha: A Tale of Complexity – Structural Layers in Note Taking (March 2018)
The queue in my note template reminds me to explore connections with existing structure notes when factoring a note, which is helpful. Over time, I have labeled my structure notes differently. Currently, they are referred to as project thinking canvases.
This is the phrase I use.
"Connect this idea to a PROJECT thinking canvas. "
Will Simpson
My peak cognition is behind me. One day soon, I will read my last book, write my last note, eat my last meal, and kiss my sweetie for the last time.
kestrelcreek.com
MOCs are strategic into my system.
(I don't use this term, but some of the functions are the same. When I talk about with other I prefer Structure Notes).
I've abandoned the idea of having a specific note type for MOCs (reason will be more clear below, I think), and even naming them in a particular way. They blend with the other notes without any solution of continuity. I prefer to consider their function a "behaviour" of something, rather a "type" (difference derived from OOP, interfaces vs classes).
I have two main occurrences of MOC behaviour:
1) A zettel can contain a little cluster of links to other notes as part of its content. Such zettel often has the shape, for me, of a "molecular note" (extending the model of my zettelkasten, I've added molecularity near the well known "atomicity").
The process is dynamic: a zettel can start with only a little sentence, growing content in a second time, then evolving further in a molecular nature over time. Without changing its type, from zettel to MOC.
So, every zettel continues to represent a thought point, but it can become too the center of a cluster of notes, over time. Behaving as a "microMOC".
2) A dedicated note born at start and by design with the explicit purpose of represent a cluster of other notes. In this case, sometimes, it happens the opposite of the first case. A "dry" bullet list of links can evolve, enriched with text, and even splitted in multiple notes sometimes. Even in this case, I have no type assigned, so I don't need to change MOC type to Zettel type of note.
My "MOCs" use replace the role of the folgezettel, too, as the "train of thought" implementation into my zettelkasten.
A note of this kind can contain a stream of thoughts as its flows, just in form of bullet lists at start, and I have the option of rearraging the sequence evolving the note in another form if I need. .
I can use a note of this kind as "buffer note" for some work, too.
If I were to use an index in my zettelkasten (I don't), a single index entry would probably take the form of a little structure note.
Many of my MOCs behaviours starts and develop bottom up in an emergent way, but sometimes when needed can start in a planned way. Or sometimes I continue to develop structure that started as bottom up in top down approach.
So, bottom up and emergent by default, but planned and top down when needed.
The most important tool I have to build MOCs, or structure, or whatever they are called, in an emergent way, is a simple principle:
Think this zettel, what is the "higher" concept (or concepts) you can connect it to.
Pretty simple.
Can be an abstraction, a topic, a function, a project, so an existing note can be updated (and maybe promoted to moc if they begin to contain many links, so a cluster) or a new note is born.
I like the term canvas you have found.
Your definitions are so evocative, I like proxy too :-)