Title Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base NOTES: Include arrows to progress forward and backward. USING TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE Think about all the information that streams into your life from books, newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, videos, podcasts, social media, email, voice mail, text messages, and the internet. What if you had a system for extracting the most useful information from all these sources, storing that information in one place, and organizing it for easy access at any time? Today’s technology makes such a system possible. It’s called a personal knowledge base. Start a personal knowledge base now and add to it over time. Eventually this collection of information will become a “second brain” — a collection of insights and intentions that grows and stays with you as you switch jobs and change careers. Click the arrows on the right and left to progress forward and backward through these tips.

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base Button for: Choose Your Tools NOTES: Choose Your Tools Turn Home into a clickable item that takes us back to the front page. Include arrows to progress forward and backward. The foundation of a personal knowledge base is a note-taking application that syncs data across mobile devices and computers. You use this application to create notes with text and images that are stored in a searchable database. Experiment with some note-taking applications to find one that you like. You have many options. Among students, One. Note and Evernote are especially popular. Notion is a strong new contender. These can store thousands of notes organized into digital notebooks. Many note-taking applications also allow you to “clip” content from web pages — text, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more. If you use this feature, be sure to note Re the source of clipped content to distinguish it from your own ideas. You can also use social media to manage knowledge. Twitter and Pinterest, for example, can become tools for saving, organizing, and sharing what you discover online. HOME

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base Button for: Capture Information NOTES: Capture Information Turn Home into a clickable item that takes us back to the front page. Include arrows to progress forward and backward. Good ideas have a pesky habit of popping into your head while you’re driving, showering, exercising, or doing something else that doesn’t look like thinking. Don’t lose those ideas. Capture them whenever they show up. One option is to use a device that’s probably with you most of the time — your smartphone. Go to the “app store” for your device and download the mobile version of your favorite note-taking application. Then, whenever inspiration hits, you can just reach for your phone and make a note. Also, think about the kinds of information you’d like to capture in your personal knowledge base. Some possibilities are: Re • • Journal entries Course notes Notes on books that you've read Inspiring quotations Lists of goals, projects, and to-do items Articles that will be useful to you in the future Ideas for fun and creative projects — articles or books that you'd like to write, businesses you could start, trips to take, and the like HOME

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base Button for: Organize Your Files NOTES: Organize Your Files Turn Home into a clickable item that takes us back to the front page. Include arrows to progress forward and backward. Eventually you might collect hundreds or even thousands of notes. No problem. A good note-taking application allows you to search through them all with keywords — just like you use Google to find information in the internet. In addition, name your notes so that they're easy to find. Ask yourself what keywords you are likely to use when searching for a file in the future. Put those words in the name of the file. Avoid generic names such as agenda. doc and notes. doc. Instead, add specific keywords that will help you recall what the document contains. For example, include Re the name of a course and date that the note was created: biology 2000 12. 1. 14. doc. You can also sort your notes into folders. Consider starting with a simple system of just three folders: • • • Inbox for notes that you haven’t assigned to a specific category yet Active for notes that you’re currently writing and editing Archive for notes that you don’t need right now but might be useful in the future HOME

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base Button for: Develop Your Ideas NOTES: Develop Your Ideas Turn Home into a clickable item that takes us back to the front page. Include arrows to progress forward and backward. Use your personal knowledge base to become an "idea machine. " Good ideas are valuable currency. Jobs can disappear. Money can be lost. But if you can come up with good ideas for new products and services, then you gain protection from the ups and downs of the economy. Take your most interesting notes and expand them into detailed plans for workrelated and personal projects. Outlining applications such as Workflowy and Dynalist are useful for this purpose. They allow you to organize information under major topics and subtopics. Re Mind-mapping applications such as Coggle and Mind. Meister allow you to do the same thing in a more visual way. HOME

Title: Using Technology to Create a Personal Knowledge Base Button for: Share Your Ideas NOTES: Share Your Ideas Turn Home into a clickable item that takes us back to the front page. Include arrows to progress forward and backward. Turn your personal knowledge base into a launch pad for sharing your ideas with the world through writing and public speaking. Both of these activities force you to organize your ideas and present them clearly. You'll also benefit from the feedback that your audiences give you. Today a personal website is as useful as a résumé. Use applications such as Word. Press and Squarespace create an online presence with useful information for employers, clients, and customers. Write blog posts to document your knowledge. Post designs, artwork, e-books, and other digital samples of your work as well. Re Also use applications such as Power. Point and Google Slides to create presentations. Speaking in public is a great way to gain a reputation as an expert in your field and meet people who might hire you someday. The ability to speak clearly and persuasively is also one of the most in-demand transferable skills you'll ever gain. HOME