Re: [emacs-humanities] Paper Zettelkasten safety [was: Why Emacs-humanities?]

[Ihor Radchenko]

M. ‘quintus’ Gülker <post+emacs-humanities@guelker.eu> writes:

> I am currently experimenting with the Zettelkasten concept, but only
> digitally. What prevents me from trying an analogue, paper-based
> Zettelkasten is the fear of loss. I mean, how do you make a backup of
> this thing? What if there is a fire and your invaluable notes are all
> burnt to ashes? Do you keep your notes in a fire-proof safe?

:)

I just copy all the paper notes back to my org-mode files as a part of
my weekly review:

- [ ] Make sure that all the Zettels are in sync with org-mode
  - [ ] Copy the card number as =CUSTOM_ID=
  - [ ] Copy creation date as =CREATED=
  - [ ] mark sorted out cards with sticker

For me, two big advantages of paper cards are:
1. Ability to draw freely (I draw mind maps or schematics quite often)
2. Ability to assemble all relevant notes in front of me onto my desk.
   That way I can have not even a minimum interruption when I need to
   quickly lookup something (searching in org is quite fast with org-ql,
   but not that fast; and do not allow seeing more than a handful of
   notes at once)

On the other hand, their digital versions make it trivial to preview
relevant links. When I look for all relevant information of a problem I
need to think about, it is much faster to take a look at digital note
deciding if I need to search the physical note and put in onto my desk.

Best,
Ihor