3. The Knowledgebase, An Evolution of Structure, Part II
<h2>The Knowledgebase</h2>
<p>The area that has recently gone through a complete revamp is the knowledgebase. As mentioned in Part I of this post, it was previously categorized and subcategorized ad nauseum. </p>
<p>
Since my Knowledgebase has become a bit of a structureless structure, it's a bit easier for me to write about how I add stuff, and what I do with it instead of delving into the structure itself.
When adding items to PB that don't have a specific place in either my personal or work section, they get added to the Knowledgebase. I still use loose categories, but now they are related to why I added the item in the first place. For example, I recently added a link to a Time article on The Minds of Animals. Previously it would have been added to the subcategory of Animals, and perhaps Psychology. Now when I add that article I note what about the article interested me, and since I found it relevant to humane treatment I'll add a parent as such. It doesn't fit into any other categories, so I'll leave it there.
Now that I've got both notes (once again from The Curated Mind post) and meaningful parent thoughts, if I think I may have some other pertinent "stuff" related to what I'm adding, I'll run a quick extended search (hit the <b>Enter</b> key after typing your term in instant search) and see if I've got some other related areas. If I do, I'll link it, if not then not a problem. </p>
<p>
The knoweldgebase has become about what something means to me, and where it fits in what I'm thinking about. I've found that doing it this way required me to trust the application, and to do that I had to get comfortable with extended and advanced searching capabilities. Now that I am, I've been able to get past a rigid filing system, which in turn has decreased the friction in adding items to the knowledgebase. The linking structure has become much more organic, and I've found that after a while I'm able to find associations between items that I may not have necessarily thought of myself. I've also found that finding topics and items I've added previously is much easier than when I used abritrary categories.
</p>