'Oh! I really need that note now' - A common thought when writing a publication.

You took notes. Hundreds of them. But how can you quickly find them now that you really need?

Do you try to remember the title? Perhaps which word you used to create a tag for it? Perhaps it is in that folder with only 100 other notes?

Ok. I believe there is an easier way...

Following the links.

How do we retrieve memories? By context.

Where were we? With whom? What were the sensations (cold, hot, rainy day)? It happened at the same time as other events? Immediately before or after a given event?

We often retrieve memories by their association to other memories. So, why not to retrieve notes by their association with other notes?

We use links to create associations between notes.

These associations can be of any type. The notes can complement each other, may oppose each other, may specify or make the idea more general, may relate in multiple ways. The easiest way to know how two notes relate to each other is to have meaningful text around the link. That text would give a hint about the relation.

So, rather than weakly associating notes by applying the same tag, having them in the same folder, or generically adding a metadata field. Create strong bonds. Create links in the very content of the note.

.. Link the note to research papers related to it.

.. Link the note to related research questions.

.. Link the note to related "blue sky" ideas that you may want to think about one day.

.. Link the note to other notes within an argument.

As you create those links by hand, rather than using automatic linking, you are reinforcing the connection between ideas in your own mind. So, when it is time to retrieve a note, you may not remember the title of your note or where exactly it is. But you can still find the path of links from its context to the note you are looking for.

"What was that nice idea I saw on a paper when I was searching about Y as part of my research question Z?"

Follow the links.