TuskTools Treeliner

Posted by Dr Andus
Dec 30, 2014 at 12:19 PM

dan7000 wrote:
>The experiment led me to
>realize that I really do need two separate information stores: one
>information dump and one for structuring a refined outline of my key
>ideas / information on a topic. So I switched to a system with
>workflowy and Evernote, using hyperlinks in the workfowy outline to link
>to evernote notes when appropriate.

I’ve come to a very similar realisation and implemented a similar system and workflow (keeping data of differing importance in different databases and then using inter-application links to create connections between them), except I use three databases in three different software, both to distinguish between data of different importance (or state of being processed) and because those software are better for storing and handling data in particular formats (e.g. EndNote for bibliographic references).

Also, I use more than one outliner to extract and organise data via such links to the databases because I find that multiple outlines allow for more opportunities to develop concepts (through alternative visualisations, alternative trains of thought, comparison and contrast, reflection and refraction etc.).

But the underlying principle is the same: collecting (dumping) data is not the same as organising, analysing and evaluating data, and not all data are equally important. Too much unprocessed data can impede on clarity (not seeing the forest from the trees…). Deciding about which database to put the collected data in is in itself an analytical decision about the value and meaning of that piece of data. I like to think about it as channelling/chorralling stuff from different sized bodies of water, with Google etc. being the ocean, all the way to the pond of the database as the most processed info, and the puddle of the resulting outline. :-)