From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Matthew Lundin Subject: Re: Orgmode for research information management Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:29:46 -0500 Message-ID: <87zlbzt1cl.fsf@fastmail.fm> References: <2c75873c0906230106h3daf3d34y230845e15dad278e@mail.gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Return-path: Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MJ7ur-0002cz-NG for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:28:09 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MJ7un-0002aQ-9D for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:28:09 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=47352 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1MJ7un-0002aJ-4M for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:28:05 -0400 Received: from out1.smtp.messagingengine.com ([66.111.4.25]:37561) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1MJ7um-0003Qu-Fw for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:28:04 -0400 In-Reply-To: <2c75873c0906230106h3daf3d34y230845e15dad278e@mail.gmail.com> (Graham Smith's message of "Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:06:41 +0100") List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Graham Smith Cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org Hi Graham, Graham Smith writes: > I would be interested in any insights into how people use orgmode for > information management eg. gathering information for scientific paper. Org-mode is very well suited to this purpose. I like to think of org-mode as an outliner with the functionality of a database. Each outline heading/subheading is a node to which all sorts of metadata can be attached. Thus, notes can be as free-form or as structured as the project requires. The structure can emerge as the project progresses. When beginning a research project, I dump a lot of material into a new org file, making heavy use of org-remember and org-protocol. I tag items as they come in, so I know that I'll be able to find them easily later. I also create links to relevant files (pdfs, images, etc.). And any time I need to follow up on something, I create a todo. Indeed, todo state changes are immensely helpful for keeping track of what I've done so far. My citations are located in a bibtex database; org-mode is able to create links to individual items via org-store-link or org-remember. I make sure to add a link to every outline heading, whether it be to a website, a bibtex item, a file, or to some other node in the outline (via <> or ID properties). The beauty of org-mode is that I can organize my outline only when the need arises. Thanks to tags, searches, and sparse trees, I can easily find individual notes. And thanks to hyperlinks I can travel quickly to the source of the information. Anytime I need a more structured database, I create one within the outline by using properties and column views. Let's say I need to keep track of sources I've looked at an archive. I can easily create a mini-database for the archive. --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- * Some Archive :PROPERTIES: :COLUMNS: %25ITEM %10TIMESTAMP_IA %17collection %6doc-number %18author %25title %10origdate %TAGS :END: ** An old letter :industrialization:letters: :PROPERTIES: :collection: Personal Letters :doc-number: 768b :author: Michael Smithson :origdate: 1868 :title: Letter to brother :END: Some notes about the letter here... [2009-06-23 Tue 09:37] --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- So an individual org outline can contain numerous custom databases! The possibilities are endless. And, of course, at any point I can export any part of the outline to pdf, html, ascii, etc. Hope this helps. - Matt