I have just started integrating PersonalBrain into my personal knowledge management toolset - again. A year ago I couldn’t get away from hierarchical organisation and found I was remembering where things were; rather than letting the tool do it for me. Then I discovered Topic Maps and further limitations became clear. PersonalBrain does not allow for role designations on the associations between topics as Topic Maps do.
However, this time around I’m armed with knowledge. The combined postings on the [PersonalBrain Yahoo! group](http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ personalbrain/) contained several hints and tips that have made the tool much easier to use. I suggest that anybody who has looked at PersonalBrain take a look at the group for further guidance to that provided in the manual. Jerry Michalski’s site in particular has a great set of rich examples.
Why did I go back to PersonalBrain? Frustration at trying to manage everything on my hard drive and the Internet. So far, this time around it looks to be working well.