Uses of Structures for Thinking

Raimundas Vaitkevicius invites you to complete his survey of thinkers Do You Organize Your Thoughts?  You will find many answers to his survey here.  Thank you to Raimundas and all who have shared your answers with us.

Your answers are of special importance to our investigation Linking Locally is Thinking Globally, where Andrius Kulikauskas raises the question, What kinds of structural links occur in practice?  With your help, we are developing an import/export standard for tools for thinking.

What kind of help or tools would you like for helping organize thoughts and creating new ones?  WOW.  I would like to learn much more about what you are doing, what kind of response you have had to your survey, and your summary of the survey.  I have been working on this for many years now and your survey is my first indication that there is someone else with a similar interest. [John Leppik, 8/99]

Other comments: This -- what you are doing -- is worth pursuing. Persevere. [Cass McNutt, 4/00]

Holding

• Frequently they become useful later when details may become hazy if not written down.   I think the fixed record can prevent hashing over details over and over.  I find that until I write it down I find my self constantly going over details I’ve already explored, but don’t want to forget.  Kind of a way to keep it fresh in my mind.  Once it is written down, it frees my energy to go on and hash out the next big thought. [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• In order to remember them and build on them later. And in order to share them. The latter is very important to me.
• This deserves a whole essay - but briefly: the mind is a desktop; we, alas, have very limited RAM. When we have certain thoughts, it pushes other thoughts off of the desktop and - alas often - into the never-to-be-retrieved-from trash. The act of writing down thoughts is really the ingenious development of "expanding mental RAM". It doesn't matter where you write them down - the computer is just a way of partly automating that process, perhaps making it more retrievable. The core "RAM expanding" function is in the actual writing! Furthermore, writing the thought harnesses the concentration enabling the thought stream to develop more fully. Incidentally, one of the premiere tools of creativity and self-knowledge as advocated by Julia Cameron in her book "The Artist's Way" is "the morning pages" - three handwritten pages daily! (I confess, I do mine on Word - often with a couple of screens running)  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• They improve memory and help focus and refine ideas. [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• 1. Not to forget things: new ideas, things to do, ways to express things, structures (often what's new is the organization, not so much the elements). 2. Not to have to rewrite them. 3. To communicate them to others. 4. To be able to react to one's own creative thoughts: first you write being creative; then you react either being critical or being further creative; and so on. So you write, then switch mode of thinking, then write some more, etc. [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• Thought should be written down to record tacit knowledge, to share ideas, and to accumulate ideas for posterity. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• For safe keeping, as well as greater accuracy and clarity of expression. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• So we can look at them outside of our head, and so we can communicate them to others irrespective of location in time or space. [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• So that you don't lose them, and so they can be shared [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• Helps me in my thinking process, and it allows me to present it to others. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• So they won't get lost. [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• To increase productivity.  Remembering something takes such a long time and sometimes, they never come up.  Also, I want to share the thoughts with others. [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• In my computer I have permanent, unlimited and reliable memory.  I do not have that in my head. [John Leppik, 8/99]
• Your brain is not a parking lot for good ideas.  Once written down, you can free "brain space" for new activities. [Mil Rosseau, 8/99]
• For using good info/rejecting bad memory aid...as I get older I forget more; not reinventing the wheel; giving some perspective on former thinking; evaluating past projects and endeavors for new approaches that might be more successful; seeing personal growth over a period of time; picking out patterns  [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• To free space.  Not to forget the best.  To see evolution.  [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]

 
• ... | I go in cycles.  Sometimes I take the time and fill out page after page in notebooks. | Many hundreds over the years. | Frequently in a 6x9 steno pad.  I find the smaller size, compared to an 8x10 notebook, to be easier to carry along.  I also sometimes use the computer, but usually for transcribing and expanding previous entries I’ve written.  I find computers somewhat hard to use for the quick jotting down of ideas. However, I have found my pocket PC to be of use here.  I use it more and more for this type of work.  I frequently use the voice recorder to take short notes and later enter them in.  The ‘notepad’ application I’ve found useful for sketching ideas out and, to a limited sense, for entering raw notes.  The speed at which text can be entered is limiting.  I frequently will use the notepad to write text in.  I then later go back and type it in to slowly reduce the ‘hand’ written text and increase the ‘computer’ text to transform it to a more usable document.  |  It has been very informal.  I’ve found that trying to make it more formal bogs down the process.  For instance the classic mind mapping habit of colorful diagrams has been easier and quicker to me to just jot down some quick words and lines.  Making it pretty takes more time that in my mind doesn’t make it any better, for the intended purpose I have, mainly to quickly allow brain storming.  I think if I created more long term projects, like mapping out biology or some other subject it would be more useful to use the full extent of mind mapping.  |  I’ve played around with some systems for taking notes, zoot, brain, treepad, mindmapper, etc.  but find them As stated before, it is based loosely on mind mapping.  I’m in the process of developing a more generic type of system.somewhat limiting and always lacking a key feature that in my mind would make it much more useful.  I’m a programmer by day and have been working on and off for the last 5 years or so on coming up with an architecture that I feel would help out here.  I think when I get the time to implement it my ideas I’ll have a perfect system for what I want to do.  [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• Networking information for groups of people with world-changing ideas, projects or activities. I.e. keeping track of what people are doing, who's who, and how I've been relating to them. Also, my own ideas and models for building a society that works better for people. And my software development ideas and activities. | Every day I write down ideas and activities concerning projects I work on and am being paid for.  In some periods of time I write down thoughts to share with others in the form of essays or e-mail messages or books. Sometimes philosophical ideas that I want to expand on later.  Recently I haven't written my thoughts down much, because I'm lacking good tools that correspond to the way the world works for me these days. Earlier I've been much more prolific and have written books, etc.| Hundreds or thousands. | I write down notes on little yellow stickies, or on yellow pads. And I mostly never find them again.  Stuff I send to groups of people in e-mail messages remain a little more accessible to me, as do stuff I've written down in books or webpages. | No, only word documents and e-mail messages, both of which are very inadequate for hoping to find them again. | I've partially developed an online system called OrgSpace, which is based on storing things in different folders or spaces, and being able to store one item in multiple places at the same time. I've used that for some projects. It is however, only partially finished, and not particularly in a working state at this point. [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• My specialty interests: * professional burnout - consultation to individuals, groups practices and organizations, * conflict resolution,* medical literature research consultant on various topics - (bony) spinal fusion... * personality styles. Writing articles/preparing book(s) on: * professional burnout, * unconscious dialog - making sense of our internal dialog, * understanding and mapping turmoil within the healthcare system. | Quite frequently. Used to do it in scattered fashion - lose the pad I wrote it on. Then I began carrying around a spiral "assignment book" - often forget it. But would only use it for "to do's" Then began jotting ideas down on "post it" notes and affixing them to a sheet of paper on a tablet - enter them into relevant file in Agenda Then began to use Tony Buzan's Mind Mapping technique, so I can draw out a tree - often kind of messy - but it gets my thoughts down. And I can identify it from a stack of papers. Most recently, discovered MindManager - really pleased with what it does for MindMapping. Using MindManager enables me to link to existing and new Word documents for larger detail. I write down lots! I keep notes on all my patient/client interactions; essays; passing creative thoughts; to-do lists ...  I'm finally getting pretty good at managing it all. | too voluminous to mention | mindmaps on paper; post-it notes; master file in Agenda; larger Word documents |  At present, my main system is to write via Word. As I write daily, I have a couple of blank open documents which I jump between; sometimes, if I've got too much going on mentally, I jot down the thought on a notepad next to the computer to make sure "I captured it".  I then file my writings in various relevant folders: journal, writing/essays, etc.  It has been a problem maintaining/adhering to a consistent folder structure. I'm soon to export all of my writing to Zoot, so I can "see all" at a glance.  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• Transportation Information Systems and Statistics | Daily | I average 10-15 a day. | Index cards and post it notes primarily. I use Outlook notes sometimes. | I categorize them as personal or professional. I then breakdown those categories into specialized areas. For example for a work project I might have the following as categories:  Strategy, meeting notes, presentation, status, design, test, schedule and deliverables.  For personal I might have hobby, chores, travel, web/internet, kids, computer. |  I invented it myself.  I have studied COVEY and use some of his suggestions.  I described it partially above.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• Public Health - design of information and communication systems. Thinking and creativity, with tools (a la Edward de Bono [EdB]). Translation - eg I translated EdB's CoRT into Spanish. Outliners - http://www.gulic.org/copensar/ Open Idea Project - "cothinking". | Everyday, a couple of hours at least. | Perhaps 2 or 3 thousand pages, at least. | Notebook (with no lines, just plain white paper). Small squares of recycled paper. Computer: emails, documents, outlines, source-code | Computer. Word processor. Outliner software (MaxThink). On paper, I try and use EdB's thinking tools. | Mostly I use available (i.e., written by others) software. [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• Civil engineering, planning, creativity, knowledge managment. | Several times during each day. | In tens of (paper) folders and diskettes. | Papers (enclosed in pocket envelopes), index cards, diskettes, on (personal) books that I read, post-it notes. | Mindmapping, concept mapping, outlining, "object matrices" - recording words and sentences in the cells of a table. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• Business plans, creative ideas, personal experiences, journal notes, misc. ideas  | At least every other day... sometimes several times a day. | Uncounted... probably in the tens of thousands. | Computer, Palm Pilot, notebooks. | Yes, but not always effectively. | I aim to enter all new notes into a yearly log file on my PC in plain text. I then make an effort to copy important notes to more specialized subject files and also link the new data to other related notes. I suppose it's my own system but it's nothing really brilliant. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• *Thinking* - I enjoy thinking about thinking (which is why I find the laboratory so intriguing).  Music.  The effects of thinking: on society; other people; good / bad; faith; evil. WHY: Why are there rocks? Why do frogs sit on them? Why is there yellow? Time: its nature; its perception; how we trade it. God: Creator, Architect, Christ. | Not often enough. | At what granularity? Inside my thoughts are more thoughts - like fractal geometry, new thoughts unfold from existing ones. Do they end? Are they discrete / calculable / digital? - or analog / fluid / continuous / unfolding? What is the difference between these two perspectives? Are they exclusive? Suffice it to say, I've written MANY of my thoughts, but would like to write more. SOME thoughts cannot be written. | Computer, and blank sheets of paper. | I use ECCO a great deal, and a rough, ever-evolving filing system (that degrades as fast as it develops). So yes, I do, but it never feels "complete" - not concise, not complete. But looking at nature and "life," I've begun to believe that's how creative thinking is.  I've only adapted from existing systems, but have found existing systems lacking terribly - ESPECIALLY as a writer. I *think* non-linearly, but writing is inherently linear. I need a tool that accurately co-evolves one from the other.  [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• Creativity and innovation | usually daily | 2-3K | I tend to use a Lotus Notes system which I developed, but also my palm pilot  [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• Programming (various languages, but also a general concept), Databases, Financial software, Business Intelligent-software, Study ("Bedrijfskunde", a broad academic study on business, it's principals, theories and practical solutions), Web-building, Role playing.....  |  Many times a day  |  Can't say (but a lot!), most of them aren't filed or stored anymore.  |  Computer/PDA, Notebook, Blank paper |  Still searching for a "perfect" system, since I have learned about mindmaps/conceptmaps I try to use this system. But I'm also trying any other system I can lay my hands on (The Brain etc)  Most of the time it's a combination/variation of systems.  [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• Organizational development.  cultural anthropology.  knowledge management.  science fiction/fantasy.  life, the universe, and everything in it. |  irregularly, but consistently |  |  usually in letters (or emails or memos or notes) to individuals | saving them -- in personal folders, using classification buckets that mean something to me, but probably do not make much sense to anyone else.  For a good example of 'thinking out loud' see http://www.voght.com/cgi-bin/pywiki?CarolTucker |  it just has grown with me....  [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• Software engineering | everyday | more than 1000 | computer | Microsoft Word, MindMap, voice recorder, VISIO, Windows CE | I try many systems available.  I use both visual auditory devices.  Visio is very good for writing diagrams.  I use Windows CE for taking voice memos. [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• Everything | Average three thoughts per day. | Index cards: 4,000 thoughts 8,000 information  Computer: 8,000 thoughts 17,000 information.  Information is: Phone book, Data, Calendar, References to books, papers, music, etc. | Did index cards, now have used computer for seven years. |  Homegrown.  |  I have found various ways of adapting a quite basic key word and full text retrieval system. [John Leppik, 8/99]
• English as Foreign Language--teaching, writing; teacher training; learning disabilities--assessing, planning, writing; assistive technology--developing individual and group plans, writing; children's rights and advocacy--research, writing, action plans. | | I keep a personal daily journal; when I teach, I have a teaching journal as well; I organize most teacher training from projects; I use mind maps for big projects, like books, projects, etc...I constantly investigate new methods for organizing this kind of material. | Lesson plans are on index cards and organized by subject; mind maps are saved in the same directory where I save substantive work on a project or book; most of my directories have a "thoughts" page; if I am starting on a new project, I have a special directory in my computer "playing" and I start files, then directories, etc., and most move to the "regular" set of files... | My biggest problem is that I use a computer a lot...I have to have a way to transfer material to cards for the classroom/presentation room, and then bring back impressions/save ideas on my computer.  It is often difficult transferring material to our school computers... I invent and reinvent systems by myself...I don't think they are particularly noteworthy, but the index card system is good for saving good lesson plans as a teacher/trainer...by filing them by subject, I can dig in to use them for planning a project; by saving them relevant to books I am using, I save myself planning time.  [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• Quality Engineer; Training; Management | As often as possible- every hour | 20 per day | Mind map, voice recorder, computer, palmtop, note book, index card | Mind map, voice recorder, computer (The Brain or Mind Manager), palmtop, note book, index card. | Mainly stored in mind map. [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]
• Professional and private. | Daily. | Lots and lots many times. | I use mindmapping all the time. On paper or at my computer. | Tony Buzan's materials [Mil Rosseau, 8/99]

• Speed, I can think faster than I can write.  I haven’t found a good way to organize the widely different types of information that I would like to.  I find frequently I spin my wheels and go over details that I’ve already written down, but are currently not accessible. [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• With my current system, I'm 95% likely to lose track of the thought within a few days of writing it down. So, I don't write down all the thoughts I really should write down, because I know it is somewhat futile to do so.  [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• The technology is cumbersome! Thoughts happen like lightning! (in a way, they are!) - they zap down and branch this way and that. You've got to be able to capture them quickly. Since I know Agenda now pretty well, I can use it for thought "sifting" - but only for certain purposes. Generally, I use a few open blank documents to jot down thoughts.  What Word needs! - now here's an idea!!! - what Word needs is Agenda's ability to assign a document to multiple categories - up pops a category manager - my file has automatically been "read" for key words and perhaps conditionally assigned to categories. I can then assign it to others. This would make the "binder" function DYNAMIC!  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• I think faster than I write or type.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• Writing down: I never have the appropiate notebook with me, so I write scattered notes in many places, often having to use the "work" notebook for "home" to-do items, and pieces of paper in several pockets and so on. As a result, I have three bags of unsorted pieces of paper - I carry a folder which gets filled up, and then instead of sorting it I empty it into a bag, and start again. (No, actually, it's 6 bags ... or maybe more!) [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• Organizing thoughts never gets done efficiently. I just rewrite them, I guess. I have no "central repository" which I can pull thoughts from. I often wish I had a ThinkPC (made up name) that I could carry like I carry my mobile phone (yes, I do have one).  [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• Creating new ones is the easy part. Just give me a piece of paper and I can fill it with words and arrows, or with long paragraphs, or with outlines. To further shape it I must rewrite, though. [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• The most serious problem at the moment is easily retrieving specific data on paper-folders and diskettes, especially data that have long been filed.  I would like to create ideas using "templates".  At the moment, however, few "templates" are documented and accessible. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• Organizing what is, for me, an extremely organic / long-over-time process. Writing and distilling my thoughts is *evolutionary*... our tools are *engineering* oriented. Do we *create* our thoughts - or *discover* them?  [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• How to classify and where to file the thought... how to access all similar thoughts that might be relevant for linking to the new thought... how to keep numerous links updated when files are often moved or merged. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• Biggest problem is the lack of visual tools to help capture relationships and connections more easily [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• For the "old" storage method (as paper) it's the lack of space and the fact that once something has been written down it can be moved.  For the computer programs I have encountered: the lack of using various systems (mindmaps, conceptmaps, flowcharts etc.) in one integrated system. Yes, I can use Word with pictures loaded into it, but then the same restrictions apply as to plain paper. Also I miss working with different layers (context's) of the information. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• Making the concepts crystal clear to someone else by establishing shared meanings [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• Generally, writing down the ideas take long time and very tedious process.  When I think up of something, I just want to say it loud and want my computer to automatically do the rest (saving, categorizing and so on.)  This is why I'm working on my project and interested in this group! [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• Efficient system that taps into all the sources/ways I "get" data...that is, from school or training...and combining it with my home station work at the computer; having the time to keep everything up to date.  [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• Writing is OK. Creating is OK.  Organizing the entire thoughts a bit difficult. I use a dedicated notebook and table of content within the notebook.   [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]

• Better computer tools.  I think the computer tools out there now are in the infancy of what can be done.  [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• Sometimes.  I have tried to use some of the computer tools to organize in their particular manner. [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• I would like to be able to associate a number of different kinds of documents with nodes in my mindmap. E.g. e-mail messages, web pages, address book entries, word processing documents, etc.  [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• Essentially I need a multi-dimensional mind map where I can write down a thought or piece of information and quickly relate it to all the nodes in the mindmap I think it relates to. I need to be able to do that without having to give a lot of thought to the structure of my mindmap. And I need to be able to find these items again without having to know exactly where it fits in a big tree. I.e. it will be attached by a number of different traits, so I might find it by date, by place, by person, by subject, or a number of different ways.  [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• Voice enabled tools would be helpful.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• An imagined ThinkPC sort of thing, with all in one place (and the appropriate backups): outliner, sketchpad, email, short note wordpad, calendar and to-do organizer, ways to link all of that, ways to import and export from "external" outlines and sources of text (I often find I would like to sort other people's ideas and then do my own thinking and then contribute back to the discussion; see for example http://slashdot.org and look for Voices from the Hellmouth:

it's a social massive discussion, which maybe could be sorted, worked upon creatively, and then ... oh, the potential!). [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• 1. Keep the human interface simple. 2. Foster Open Source. 3. Help create translation software - thinking is not only done in English! Take internationalization into account! 4. I'm writing a "simple outline editor" (sole) which is GPLed - currently a much more skilled programmer is writing new things - which I would like to add some "cothinking" features:

sharing outlines. I would like it to have many of the features I've seen in MaxThink: binsort, prioritizing, shuffle (random sort), etc. I would also like it to have a way to use EdB's tools: a way to do a PMI (three subtopics: P with a plus-points list, M with a minus-points list, I with an interesting-points list), and so on; this would have to allow for any kind
of tool, not just EdBs - eg: 5Ws: who, what, why, when, where. Also, a random word system for creating PO statements, etc. [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• Software tools that are portable and cheap and have internet access. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• Much larger workspaces (i.e. giant computer screens, preferably as a pen-based tablet that one could sketch

on, just like an artist)... and software that can intelligently know how to file a new thought in multiple ways... also, better voice recognition. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• A THINKING TOOL for giving structure to our thoughts - or, rather, allow our thoughts to find a structure among themselves.  Lotus Agenda (intelligence) + ECCO (outlining general interface "power") + Inspiration (mind-mapping & brainstorming) + The Brain (engaging UI) + PEN-BASED INPUT on a LARGE-FORM-FACTOR (at LEAST letter-sized) tablet. The ability to capture, codify (categorize, data-correlate), and relate thoughts gives the ability to create new ones.  [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• Curious to know how others deal creatively with information overload, and how new software tools can effectively help (without adding to the problem). Also, how others may have learned to do mindmapping, websurfing, and other visually-oriented tasks while minimizing the use of a mouse.  [William Wagner, 4/00]
• Ideally a huge but portable whiteboard! [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• The key features should also include: easy converting to another standard (word, html etc) for publication purposes (for people not into this kind of methods) and flexibility. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• A searching agent based on key concepts that can reach across different applications and anneal the information. [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• I want something that works like a highly trained personal secretary.  My ideal tool would recognize the context, take notes and give suggestions accordingly.  [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• Something that allows the entry and compilation of all kinds of info, and across the board search tool, with output in several different modes--journal, random thoughts, documents, web pages, research, quotes, papers, etc. and a simple way to record it in transit [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• My definition of a thought, or as I prefer, a 'knowledge item' is very close to a 'meme' so I do it mostly in text without any particular problems.  [John Leppik, 8/99]
• 3 D storage system.  [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]

• ability to capture thoughts instantaneously while I'm working somewhere else on the screen - e.g. a scratch pad or post it note
• an ability to link thoughts "on the fly" and do so intentionally as well as have the program "conditionally" assign them based on key words matching to my known "thought categories"
• ability to set up "thought categories" for above
• ability to assign thoughts to categories at will (i.e. NOT at the time you create the thought - maybe better to wait to just before you exit to ask you to assign the remaining unassigned thoughts)
• ability to create different "views" of my material, a la Agenda.  It's AMAZING what new configurations of existing material can do - especially when juxtaposed to other categories.
• ability to "lasso" notes from the scratchpad and insert them into a mind map. Just highlight and attach it to a wing of a mind map.
• ablity to pick up the thread where you left off previously. (This is where multiple views come in; if I were trying to track through myriad thoughts - I could envision it going something like this: let's say I was working on a medical research project having to do with artificial intervertebral discs, bone fusion, and biomechanics and the FDA. I'd want to program to be able to prompt me with - "Did it have to do with [my last series of categories] discs? polymers? fusion? engineering >> biomechanical regulatory>>FDA  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]

I am back where I was in 1998 when I first tried and purchased The Brain. I was excited then and used it for a few days getting all my links in it and then found myself not using it at all after a week. I tried The SiteBrain, but the number of links (260 and growing) I have would require me to pay a lot of money for a personal site that brings no income. And now I am stuck with all my links in TheBrain and wondering how to get things out of it. Is there an export feature to some other format? An outline view in HTML would be okay. I like the idea of TheBrain and SiteBrain, but think things have a ways to go. Even if the pricing were dropped for personal sites of say 300-500 links, I would still be concerned about exporting.  Thanks. [Ken Cotton, 02-10-2000 08:34 PM, posted in the WishList | Import/Export of my data  thread of the discussion at www.thebrain.com]

Locating

• Unfortunately  no.  [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• Not other than a text search through all my e-mail messages. Which is hopelessly inadequate.  So, I'm more likely to find my thoughts again by somebody else reminding me that they thought it was a good idea, than by me locating them myself. [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• This is a BIG problem. I'm finding MindManager quite helpful. Initially I had hopes for the MS Binder function. But it's cumbersome. What needs to happen is a constantly running "master idea indexer" which automatically assigns your thoughts to existing "idea nodes". I was excited to discover "The Brain" but found it cumbersome to use. It's definitely "onto something". Alas, I was able to do a self-lobotomy and couldn't recover - that was VERY distressing. I wasn't inclined to play with it much more. Imagine this, though! Take Agenda, MindManager, and The Brain - and some functions of Axon (they have a lot of flexibility for mapping that MindManager [intentionally] doesn't) - have it tie in with Word- and you'd have a BLOWOUT KNOWLEDGE MANAGER!!! If any of the creators of these would like to converse further, I'd be happy to explore my own hopes for such a product further.  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• I typically try to date items and sort by date, category and subcategory.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• No. I wish I had. Sometimes I underline heavily some things in my notebooks. I also use those half-sticky small pieces of paper (you know, the yellow kind) to mark certain parts of the notebook - but they have no names on them so I forget what they mean and I don't go back to that content easily.  [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• An index system for filed papers, diskettes, and documents on the computer. [Dr.Rodney King, 4/00]
• Very simple: the better that I have filed the thought (preferably in multiple locations), the more likely I am to find it. From my experience, search tools have not proven very efficient unless I am certain of finding a unique phrase or term. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• ECCO.  I *used* to LOVE Lotus Magellan for this ability (it was like an indexing search engine for your hard drive), but, like they did with Improv and Agenda, Lotus bailed on this, one of their most innovative products. [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• full text retrieval [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• Not a real method, usually just browsing the various bits I have. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• Associations [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• Mostly using my memory...in the computer is easier...the way I have set up my files, and duplicated some "thought" files to several sub-directories, it is usually easier to locate info...but not perfect [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• Aha that's the tough part. In my note book I draw a table of content in a form of a mind map which grow as the book is being filled.  [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]
• cfr use of Ishikawe in TQM. Organising your thoughts in a structured way indicates "weak spots".  [Mil Rosseau, 8/99]
• Primarily key words that have been authored by myself. [John Leppik, 8/99]

• My goal is to not to organize them in the system at all. Selectivity and organization applied by the search I have found most useful.  [John Leppik, 8/99]

Reorganizing

• I draw mind maps on large pieces of paper, with drawings and multiple colors.  [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• The most incredible system for "reorganizing" is Agenda - that program was light years ahead of its time. Most people simply use it for its scheduling function. That's the equivalent of using the Mona Lisa as a pin bulletin board! Agenda is a free text database "on the fly". When I'm preparing a new presentation, I simply sit at Agenda and write - one item of thought after another - no order necessary. I then create a column and label it "theme" and reorganize my thoughts according to the themes which I've identified (and which I can always re-name, add to, delete etc...)  In the next view, I now see them by theme. It clears my thinking; I'm able to take one section and add to it; I can create multiple colums which help me to "cross reference" and item and see it in different contexts. This is vital for making use of knowledge - to see it in multiple contexts. It itself becomes a form of self-brainstorming.
• I'm also using Zoot 4.0 to organize my data on medical literature - this program offers a way to see the major heirarchical structure, the list of files/items within a folder, and the contents of the items themsleves. Sort of like Magellan.
• Not really, I often give the ideas to others to see how they organize or reorganize the thoughts.  I also frequently organize the details of a specific item using an outline tools. [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• Outliner (MaxThink). Word-processor more often.  Not in outline mode, though: just cut and paste. I often work on printouts, which I then fill with arrows, notes, links using stars or other "drawings", underlining, etc. I sometimes use mindmaps on paper; not the pretty drawings with words on the lines, but just lines pointing to words in a mindmapish way. Then it easily gets messed up as a 2D hypertext - quite ugly, but useful.  [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• I use "object matrices & templates" to record and categorise data and information. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• I sometimes try to create alternative 'views' into my most important notes by using a variety of tools, such

as visual outliners and concept mapping programs. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• Networks, outlines, and sequences mostly. You pretty much nailed it. : )  BUT, where this goes awry is in the "encapsulation" - what belongs as a "related item" in one "context" becomes an "attribute" in another.  [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• Sometimes I recategorise them, I also have a sort of 'workflow' system for trying to advance them through stages to implementation [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• No, but to be honest I should. Regarding the study-thoughts: I'm trying to collect it in mindmaps. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• there are times when I go through the stored content of my folders and rearrange them -- usually I am changing the categories and sub-dividing them to make the buckets more manageable and make it easier for me to locate items [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• I sometimes use MindMap software to move ideas.  Another way I use is run Microsoft Word and list all my thoughts there first.  Then I move them around and organize them. [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• Yes--cards, maps, designs, approaching a problem from several different ways.  As my projects get more complicated, I have changed the way I design/organize them quite frequently. [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• I change the way the branches of my major mind map are organised.  [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]

Generating

• Mind maps and related techniques.  I find that the ability to quickly jot down a lot of information helps get new connections made.  [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• I sometimes use deBono's 6 thinking hats. Or I pick out random items, for example from a dictionary, and use that to stimulate ideas. [Flemming Funch, 9/00]
• I tried Project Kickstart - disappointing. I looked at the checklists in Axon - somewhat helpful, but cumbersome. Idea generation is only useful when you're stuck or when you want to put an idea "through the paces" of a template. I haven't found it particularly relevant.  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• Not really, just try to brain storm.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• Non formally, I feel I use a lot of "analogies". When I try to explain something to others or to myself, I use analogies and try to find parallel features, differences, etc. More formally, I also use EdB's lateral thinking techniques. Also, I ask others for comments on what I write.  [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• I use mind-mapping, concept mapping, systems mapping and "object matrices & templates" as well as the software "Axon".  I also read books that I feel would give me more insight and ideas into the issues with which I'm dealing. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• I have experimented with several software tools that aim to help generate ideas and solve problems, but from my experience I have found the iterative methodology of the process to be uninspiring and even inhibitive. I suppose I need to develop more patience to stick with the problem solving session from start to finish. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• GIANT SHEETS OF PAPER, and colored pencils.  (Why can't this be inexpensively digital?) [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• I make sure I read a wide range of diverse material so that I can create unusual combinations. [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• Browsing the "stored" thought I have near me. Also I try to find material written by others (internet!). Also I use the mindmap more and more to create a general overview. [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• I tend to acquire ideas through exposure through reading (books and online) and conversations [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• [Same as for reorganzing]  I sometimes use MindMap software to move ideas.  Another way I use is run Microsoft Word and list all my thougts there first.  Then I move them around and organize them. [Yasuaki Kudo, 2/00]
• Mind map; mind manager; hand design graphics; approaching problems from different angles;  [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• No particular method. Just brainstorming a draft mind map.  [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]
• JL:  Bringing together relevant and previously vetted thoughts in a search creates a very powerful stimulant. [John Leppik, 8/99]

• Mind Mapping, Radiant thinking techniques.  [Mil Rosseau, 8/99]

Sharing

• Very rarely.  If it is shared, it would be verbal discussions. [Mark Oeltjenbruns, 9/00]
• I have often shared my thoughts with thousands of people at a time in e-mail lists. And that is, unfortunately, the best way I've had of keeping track of them, as they get stored in e-mail folders and online archives, etc.
• Very cumbersome! unless someone has the base program, you're quite limited. I haven't tried exporting MindManager files yet, but it shows promise. Right now, I easily exchange Agenda files - they're VERY compact. But you've got to know Agenda - and that's an uphill learning curve. (And sometimes, you even have to know the ancient language of DOS)(but what an incredible program!!!)  [Kernan Manion, MD, 4/00]
• Yes usually at least once a week.  [Brenda Clyde, 4/00]
• I show printouts, or send emails or send documents through email. I've never shared outlines as I don't work with anyone who uses MaxThink.  [Lucas Gonzalez, 4/00]
• I mostly publish my ideas on mailing lists on the Internet.  I also share thought through e-mails to family and acquaintances. [Dr. Rodney King, 4/00]
• Our means for doing this is pretty limited. I'm realizing that personal/public speaking is one of my most "high-bandwidth" methods of "conveyance," but like writing for its thoughtfulness, longevity, asynchronous-ness, and "manipulatability."  [Cass McNutt, 4/00]
• Not very often... usually through email. [William Wagner, 4/00]
• Lotus Notes is a groupware application so it automatically shares with my team [Andy Burnett, 2/00]
• Yes, reformatting the thoughts and usually converting it to a format that can be understand by others (usually text and simple diagrams).  [Hans Donner, 3/00]
• I write letters, memos, emails, notes, cards, etc.  I also leave voice mail messages and have lengthy phone conversations  [Carol H. Tucker, 2/00]
• Exchanging mind maps. [Mil Rosseau, 8/99]
• Everything that I write comes out of my head and/or my knowledge base.  I have not focussed on sharing knowledge items (thoughts) as I consider knowledge to be strictly personal and thus not sharable out of context. When we publish, or share thoughts. I think that we have to decontextualize the thought from our personal situation and then generalize it for a wider readership.  That takes work, broader knowledge and does not produce knowledge but information about knowledge.  In my view, a book in a library contains no knowledge, only generalizable information about knowledge. [John Leppik, 8/99]
• e-mail; sending mind maps to each other [Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD, 8/99]
• Only with computerised mind map (with mind manager).   [Deladrire Jean-Luc, 8/99]

The OnTap Translation Server by Aegean Associates, Inc converts text or HTML into a file to be read on the Palm OS.  There is a reference of supported HTML tags, including hypertext links, six levels of headings, ordered lists, unordered lists, definition lists (for which the term=label is followed by the definition=text) and tabs (for columns).  One can purchase authoring tools, a dictionary of stock symbols, a Palm OS reference guide, as well as download free catalogues, train schedules, Christmas carols, exhibition information.  info@palmtoppublishing.com Demitrios Vassaras, President, demitrios@aegean.com [http://www.ontaptech.com/webpages/opsquick.htm, 2/00, Andrius Kulikauskas, Thanks, Lawrence Faulkner]

Other

Import/Export Tools

SEQUITUR, developed by Craig Nevill-Manning of Rutgers, New Jersey, and Ian Witten, University of Waikato, New Zealand,  is a method for inferring compositional hierarchies from strings.  Craig Nevill-Manning used SEQUITUR as the main technique in his dissertation about detecting structure in sequences.  SEQUITUR "detects repetition and factors it out of the string by forming rules in a grammar. The rules can be composed of non-terminals, giving rise to a hierarchy. It is useful for recognizing lexical structure in strings, and excels at very long sequences."  SEQUITUR has applications in natural language, computational biology, music, and programming languages.  Ian Witten is coauthor of Managing Gigabytes, a book on compressing and indexing documents and images. [http://dna.stanford.edu/sequitur/, 7/99, Andrius Kulikauskas]

TILE is a customizable software program which converts Lotus Notes databases into HTML.  The idea is to use the convenience of Lotus Notes for organizing data and documents, working collaboratively, and managing links, and then to use TILE to export to HTML for publishing on the World Wide Web.  The cost is almost $3,000 and an evaluation version is available.  The latest version of Lotus Notes perhaps makes this program obsolete.  The program TGate lets one capture into Notes HTML form submissions from the Internet. Lyris Technologies  info@lyris.com [http://www.tile.net/info/, 7/99, Andrius Kulikauskas]

Super.move is a major Lotus initiative to help with migrating from various e-mail systems to Notes and Domino. [http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/supermove, 7/99, Andrius Kulikauskas]

General Resources

Brain Dance [http://BrainDance.com/homepage.htm, 8/99, Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD]

Creativity Web: I often download software and try out ideas from here...some of my systems are already recorded here [http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/index2.html, 8/99, Ellen Hoffenberg-Serfaty, JD]