Having a Zettelkasten with lots of notes seems to be nice. But soon there will be a bunch of notes with ideas from an early stage in a rough form to some very developed ideas worth publishing. They are all mixed up in one big box of knowledge. This year I created a closer look on this mixture by defining a Maturity Level [1] for my notes.
And it was easy to filter these five Maturity Levels by given properties:
- Idea
Fleeting Note or Literature Note with basic concept or idea, initial thoughts or observations. Unstructured or raw content. Minimal use of links, tags, and metadata, but always kept a link to the source. Placeholder or generic title. Initial metadata includingcreatedandmodifieddate.
Filter: 1_Fleeting Notes OR 2_Literature Notes - Draft
Permanent Note with expanded content and more details. Preliminary organization of idea. Clear main points but may lack refinement. Basic use of links and tags for categorization. Improved title reflecting content. Use of template and addedthemeas mandatory metadata.
Filter: 3_Permanent Notes AND lead == null - In Progress
Permanent Note with substantially developed content. Logical structure with smooth transitions. Inclusion of supporting evidence or examples. Thoughtful use of links to connect concepts. Comprehensive tagging for efficient categorization. Title reflects the main theme. Summary is added asleadmetadata.
Filter: 3_Permanent Notes AND lead != null - Final
Permanent Note with completed, refined, and polished content. Consistent formatting and style. Ready for sharing, publication, or integration into larger projects. Thoughtfully crafted links for a comprehensive web of knowledge. Optimized tagging for easy retrieval and classification. Well-crafted title and a concise, informative summary. Comprehensive metadata with related contextual information.
Filter: 3_Permanent Notes AND #target/project - Published
Project Note that is decided to be is ready for publishing, shared with collaborators, or integrated into larger projects. Shared through preferred platform or collaborated with others. Gathered feedback from peers or collaborators. Incorporated constructive feedback to further improve the note. Updated metadata to reflect the latest version and any changes made.
Filter: 6_Project Notes
Do you also use a maturity level for your notes?
References
[1] Paulk, Mark C., ed. The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process . The SEI Series in Software Engineering. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co, 1995.