"All curation grows until it requires search. All search grows until it requires curation" – B. Evans
This project gathers old ideas about an open-source web application for taking notes. Its functions / current objectives are :
- Research journal on very diverse subjects (personal archive)
- Private, public, multi-user with optional open access for collaboration, inspiration, discourse
- Organizing notes (relations, knowledge management, "archeology of knowledge", reflexivity) - including experimenting with automation (e.g. producing suggestions or generating relations) and mixing different indexes
- Data import/export (including periodically) and visualization
- Efficient interface design aiming for accessibility, progressive enhancement, and offline capabilities (+ installable app ?)
Between 2009 and 2014, I started several projects which are now integrated into a single one ("projet complexe"). One started out of curiosity for History and interactive visualization of historical events, another focused on the findability of "memos" about practical knowledge (consisting in a collection and archive of instructions, guides and tutorials), and the last one was centered around the organization of concepts and ideas (their origins, development and interactions).
Image above : combined architecture of past projects in the form of a simplified entity diagram, also representing Drupal-related entities.
The idea of merging different legacy projects - some of which having very different use cases - into a single one poses challenges for deciding how to approach the design of the interface. For now, I'm considering a conceptual categorization of the diverse contents available based on my own two main intentions to use this application : achieving tasks (getting things done), and learning (improving and extending knowledge).
How this duality translates into interface design choices is not very clear yet (i.e. selectable modes re-arranging the layout and/or functions available), but here's a list of terms illustrating this concept of "duality of use" when using the app to search :
| Knowledge-oriented | Task-oriented |
|---|---|
| Problem | Solution |
| Exploration / Digression | Goal / Focus |
| Complexification | Simplification |
| Design (projection) / Concept | Execution / Implementation / Realization |
| Research / Reflection / Opinion | Decision |
| Analysis / Explanation | Directives / Tasks |
| Anticipation | Reaction / Adaptation |
| Theory | Practice |
| Information | Command |
| Thought | Action |
In any context, I'm hoping to experiment with visualization ideas specific to current intent ("orientation").
Source code is GPLv2. All content is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, unless otherwise stated.