Quantum OS is what I call the underlying organisation and structural rules underpinning this Digital Garden and non-online notes.
Refer to The Quantum Operating System for more information.
Quantum OS
13 views in this landscape.
Organising Digital Knowledge Across Multiple Systems
Digital knowledge comes at us in all forms and it can be a challenge to manage. This note describes how I manage information in my Personal Knowledge Management system. My system works when.. I am easily able to find something I’ve saved I am confident nothing important is missing Knowledge and Records It has taken many iterations of many systems to realise there is a difference between knowledge and records.
Tags Are Not Knowledge
Tags, or other similar metadata, added to resources in a Personal Knowledge Management system are not content. They are best used to help you curate resources and can answer questions such as: What was written in July 2023? (add a date) Where are all the references to books? (add #book) What am I currently working on? (add to-develop) When used as markers for the content of a resource - exactly like keywords - an issue arises where one tag can mean multiple things.
Heading Level Guidelines
Within a note, headings start at Heading 2. This is because, when displaying notes using Quartz 4, the title of the note is set to Heading 1 and to have a second Heading 1 breaks the structure of the document. Use CSS styling to distinguish headings from the displayed Title of a document.
Maps of Contents Guidelines
The Library of Congress Classification is used as a guide for the Map of Contents naming strategy used here. Map of Contents can take any form necessary to assist with the organisation of data. The default storage location for Map of Contents is \Atlas\Maps in accordance with the design principles of the ACE Framework.
Property Guidelines
By convention, as there is no way to enforce this, the properties added to file should be in this order. As I read them, this puts the most important information at the top. RankNameCommentMultiple Values1.aliasesNote link aliases within Obsidian.Y2.css-classesNote formatting changes within Obsidian.Y3.tagsNote tags.
Tag Guidelines
These are guidelines, not rules. They recogise that Personal Knowledge Management Systems Must Be Flexible. When to tag Before starting, become familiar with the concepts in The Difference Between Good and Bad Tags. Tags are used for: State tracking Throughout the life of a note it may change state multiple times, across multiple areas.
Tagging Journal Entries
These are the tags I apply to Journal entries. They are a means of quickly bringing related entries together so that I can see themes. Journals can have more than one tag. I'm slowly working through all past entries checking they are correctly tagged and doing things like adding a photo when I know there is one of relevance.
The Quantum Operating System
‘Quantum OS is my operating system which in no way suggests I am a computer. Rather, it is a set of notes that describe the rules and standards I have determined are best to manage my digital information as I see fit. CORE CONCEPT Organising Digital Knowledge Across Multiple Systems describes in detail where I store documents and how I organise them.
My Photo Dating Strategy for Uncertain Dates
Digital photos have the date and time taken embedded. Scanned prints, negatives and slides do not. This is a problem in Photography when the original non-digital image is scanned and there is no record alongside it of the date the photo was made. Digital Asset Management software such as IMatch or Lightroom requires a date.
My Backup Strategy
I value backups of my data and systems. Having them means a level of security if something is lost, damaged, hacked, breaks. I may be over-compensating in some areas with multiple on-site and off-site backups. Where I do that, I’m also considering the other aspect of backups which is speed of restoration.
Don't Duplicate Public Knowledge
Within a Digital Garden it’s very easy to get caught in the trap of duplicating public knowledge that can be found elsewhere, or is otherwise known. For example, The Lord of the Rings is made up of Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. There is no benefit in me re-creating that structure here.
How I Apply Ratings
There are as many systems to apply ratings as there are things which can be rated. Ratings are applied as keywords beginning with #rating/ Anything can be rated. This Digital Garden uses a 5-star scale applied as follows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Life defining. Part of my identity. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I am certain to recommend this enthusiastically to people I think would be interested.
An Observational Blogger
I’m primarily an observational blogger. Throughout the day I’ll notice something and think, “I wonder if that’s an example of…” and I’ll use it as the prompt to share what I’ve observed. There are three reasons for this. Writing helps my solidify my observations Observing helps be become better at understanding what’s working for me and what isn’t It prompts thinking in other readers such as yourself.