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<a name="A-Brief-Introduction-to-the-Zettelkasten-Method-1"></a>
<h2 class="chapter">2 A Brief Introduction to the Zettelkasten Method</h2>
<p>Org-roam provides utilities for maintaining a digital slip-box. This section
aims to provide a brief introduction to the &ldquo;slip-box&rdquo;, or &ldquo;Zettelkasten&rdquo;
method. By providing some background on the method, we hope that the design
decisions of Org-roam will become clear, and that will aid in using Org-roam
appropriately. In this section we will also introduce terms commonly used within
the Zettelkasten community, which will also commonly appear in the Org-roam
forums and channels of discussion.
</p>
<p>The Zettelkasten method of note-taking is designed to increase research
productivity: in particular, it acts as a research partner, where conversations
with it may produce new and surprising lines of thought. This method is
attributed to German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, who using the method had
produced volumes of written works.
</p>
<p>In its paper form, the slip-box is simply a box of cards. These cards are small
&ndash; often only large enough to fit a single concept. The size limitation
encourages ideas to be broken down into individual concepts. These ideas are
explicitly linked together. The breakdown of ideas encourages tangential
exploration of ideas, increasing the surface for thought. Making linking
explicit between notes also encourages one to think about the connections
between concepts.
</p>
<p>Org-roam is the slip-box, digitalized in Org-mode. Every zettel (card) is a
plain-text, Org-mode file. These files are often placed in the same directory.
In the same way one would maintain a paper slip-box, Org-roam makes it easy to
create new zettels, pre-filling boilerplate content using a powerful templating
system. Org-roam also facilitates the linking of zettels using Org-mode <code>file:</code>
links.
</p>
<p>A slip-box requires a method of quickly capturing ideas. These are called
<strong>fleeting notes</strong>: they are simple reminders of information or ideas that will
need to be processed later on, or trashed. This is typically accomplished using
<code>org-capture</code> (see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/org/capture.html#capture">(org)capture</a>), or using Org-roam&rsquo;s daily notes
functionality (see <a href="Daily-Notes.html#Daily-Notes">Daily Notes</a>). This provides a central inbox for collecting
thoughts, to be processed later into permanent notes.
</p>
<p>Permanent notes are further split into two categories: <strong>literature notes</strong> and
<strong>concept notes</strong>. Literature notes can be brief annotations on a particular
source (e.g. book, website or paper), that you&rsquo;d like to access later on.
Concept notes require much more care in authoring: they need to be
self-explanatory and detailed. Org-roam&rsquo;s templating system supports the
addition of different templates to facilitate the creation of these notes.
</p>
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