Boeing
3370 Mira Loma Avenue
PO Box 3105
Anaheim, CA 92803
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 10:24:09 -0700
04 00074 60 03040701
Mr. Rod Welch
rodwelch@pacbell.net
The Welch Company
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111 2496
..
Subject:
Tools for KM
Dear Rod,
Here is a start on the various tools I use in the course of trying to manage
the information that I have to handle.
.. When I mentioned that I still have to use a number of tools for KM, Rod
asked what tools and why. This is a start at an explanation of what tools I
use for what purposes.
Most of my KM activity is still in the area of information management. I
have several database applications that I would like to build for
inventories such as books, tape sets, CDs, etc.
..
Summary
KeyNote outliner -- multiple outlines per file, internal file
list, virtual nodes. Used to use TreePad. MaxThink is superior, but
DOS-based.
..
Outlook email client (newsgroups for the few I visit)
..
Microsoft Word for documents of any size. I used to use
WordPerfect or Lotus WorpPro, but I revert to what I usually have at
work, which is uniformly Word.
..
WebWhacker, Zip-Up-The-Web, MyBase, SurfSaver -- web capture.
..
askSam, Access, Excel -- Databases still not integrated.
..
Paper notebook, file cards, note pad for impulse writing or
notes.
..
OmniPage Pro -- OCR for scanned images and image files -- planned.
..
Dragon Naturally Speaking and a digital recorder -- planned experiment
in transcription of verbal notes made while driving, walking, etc.
..
InfoSelect -- I keep trying but just can't get into it.
..
Multiple other outliners. I really want one that will manage tables.
..
Local Wiki -- experiments show that it is too limited in global
organization capability, and would take substantial rewrites to get
right. It could serve as a start at an SDS-like system, and I may
attempt to do something like that.
PowerMarks to manage bookmarks in multiple, project related files.
Bookmarks are organized by keyword(s) or text search. Each can have notes
which I usually use for pricing. PowerMarks is mostly my way to get back to
web sites that are interesting but which I haven't studied in depth. I
especially save locations of resource sites so that I can get to large
amounts of information quickly.
.. I read a lot of books. I tend to mark them using post-it notes. In some
books I will underline important passages (I have tried highlighting, but
find it unsatisfactory). If the material is important enough I will create
documents or outlines to record some of the ideas. I rarely do detailed
point-by-point analysis.
I get articles and files from colleagues.
.. I purchase ebooks (many in PDF).
The initial capture and organize work is done using a series of folders on
the hard drives.
I use PowerDesk as a file manager because I find it to be far superior to
Windows explorer.
.. All downloaded programs and ebooks go into a folder structure designed to
capture downloads for writing to CDs. I generally create a .url link to take
me to the originating URL for the download. I generally keep downloads
related to a single program or tool in the same folder.
Programs are installed on either system or application drives as desired,
and are entered into a KeyNote file with the install / update in
chronological order. This provides an install log of what, where, when, key
codes, etc. I usually try to get this file copied to other systems for
backup, though the fact that it is no longer on a system drive aids in
protecting it.
.. I use WebWhacker to capture quantities of information from web sites. I am
experimenting with Zip-Up-The-Web, MyBase (outliner), and SurfSaver (capture
to askSam database) for this as well.
I save single pages directly from the browser, or I may copy and paste into
a KeyNote file as needed.
I use a paper planner style wirebound notebook for notes at meetings and as
my basic timekeeping record (replicated in Ecco). I am starting to capture
meeting notes from this notebook into SDS whenever possible.
.. I sometimes write thoughts on paper in bed, sometimes while reading, but
mostly because I had some ideas I wanted to capture.
I use PowerDesk and a set of project folders to organize information as it
is put into use.
When needed, KeyNote files hold indexes including links to local files and
the origin URLs.
.. I find that the outline format does a very good job of keeping thing
organized. KeyNote allows full searching of the entire file or the current
tree.
For text and rich text files, KeyNote supports virtual nodes and will treat
external files as though they were part of the KeyNote file. I use this
feature to organize the SDS help files, macros, and menus. They are more
readily accessed through KeyNote than through SDS.
.. I use Outlook with folders by originator and folder rules to sort most
incoming email. All email at work, including Sent Items, is moved to local
folders due to space limitations on the server. No email remains on servers
at home.
All analysis is done by writing. Depending on the document I may use Word or
KeyNote to dissect a document.
Most of my analysis by writing work is done in KeyNote, mostly because of
the outlining which is my method of choice.
.. Even when the intended result is a Word document, I tend to use KeyNote to
do my thinking and organizing. I can put information wherever it needs to go
in the evolving structure. I can restructure as needed.
When I was able to use MaxThink by Neil Larson, I used it to much better
advantage than KeyNote. MaxThink has some features not available before or
since, but it is DOS based and has difficulties of the same nature as SDS
with newer formats. There is a Windows version evolving, but it isn't yet
ready for prime time, and I think it uses a proprietary format in the new
version. Neil Larson had several other programs that I think represent the
best total technology for creating a hyperlinked set of information nodes. I
haven't attempted to integrate them into Windows or to replace them with
modern versions, but I would like to do so.
I have very little mechanism for explicit alignment except that I keep
related material together with dated entries so that I can review what I
have written. This is weakened by the fact that I don't write that much on a
consistent basis. Reference is by file link, URL, or conventional document
reference. I summarize as needed inline with the analysis.
.. I have no good solution to the problem of linking to internal locations in
files. Since none of the proprietary formats support it, I end up having to
go to text in SDS or capture information in KeyNote and use node links. The
net result is that I don't do very much of it.
I use Ecco (tabbed outliner) as a journaling system at work. I can then copy
and paste the week's entries into the Activity Report in Word as the base of
the required weekly report.
I use Ecco alarms to notify me of standing meetings. The few items that I
schedule I do in Ecco.
.. I use a notepad (outline) in Ecco to keep administrative information (phone
numbers, ID codes, address, etc) that I need on a routine basis.
For project planning I use an outliner. Sometimes KeyNote and often Ecco.
I use an outliner on a PDA for planning weekend errands, since that is when
we do all of our running around. I use a standard list and move the items
into position under the day to get the stops and the order of them. I add
notes on what we need to do at stops where there are several items to
remember. Some of these lists are at least somewhat persistent. Not that
these are "contexts" in the sense that David Allen uses the term in
"Getting Things Done".
.. All of our list making activities have been successful in the short term and
unsuccessful in the long term. The lists eventually become too long to be
manageable and become overwhelming in their volume. I an giving serious
consideration to one or more implementations of David Allen's ideas in
"Getting Things Done".
..
Feedback
In keeping with the observation that my KM gets weaker the further I go, I
have essentially no mechanism other than mental review or going back over
lists to provide feedback on performance.
Poor experience with using lists for planning contributes to this.
Some of this can also be traced to a project focus. I have a number of
projects all in various stages, and they tend to have some record of
activity.
.. Still this is a really weak link for me.
I have grown used to Windows editors. Nearly every other editor I
have is better than the editor in SDS. I have been known to create a
record in KeyNote or even MultiEdit and paste it into SDS rather than
use the SDS editor. I am getting better with it, but it still is more a
part of the problem space than the solution space. Better wordwrap,
better search / replace (which I still haven't attempted in SDS). Even
when I don't do a lot of formatting, I want at least the amount
available in KeyNote -- bold, italic, bullets, numbers, sometimes
highlight or text color). These are important enough that I use the
WikiText version of text when I don't have these features so that I can
make use of them.
.. I created this in KeyNote in the SDS file because:
..
Word in email is worse than Word in general. The email doesn't get
indexed properly.
..
This is SDS related so any external editor creates just another file in
the SDS project folder structure. Here it is in the sds.knt file, the
"New SDS" tab, outlined under "Knowledge Management" --> Tools for KM.
I will be able to find it easily in the future.
..
I can copy this to email more easily than the SDS record. While sending
Rod an SDS record would work just fine, it doesn't (yet) work for other
people.
..
I will want to refer to this in the future as I develop ideas for a New
SDS. I could do that in SDS, but I am more comfortable with outlines.
..
Dictionaries and spell checking. Windows based programs interface with a
windows dictionary, which I find useful at times. The spelling
correction in Word can be a real nuisance, but it catches many of my
typing errors, of which I make a multitude.
..
I know and understand outlining. I like being able to scroll past topics
and structure a sizeable amount of information at multiple levels. If
Ecco or MaxThink were being supported, I would rely on them more
heavily. I use KeyNote because it is, overall, the best of a series of
outlining programs currently available. It also has a known format that
can be manipulated with Perl when I take the time with it. I have tried
to use InfoSelect, but just can't seem to get into it.
..
Foreign documents just about have to be handled in native formats.
Microsoft Office is the tool I find whenever I go to work, so that is
what I use for documents that have to be delivered or shared as
documents.
..
Specialized capabilities. PowerMarks is good at managing web bookmarks.
I like it better than the provisions in the browsers. It does only one
thing and does it well. It could do it better, but it is still the best
I have at that one thing. MultiEdit specializes in complex tasks, mostly
related to programming. It is very customizable. If I can't get a job
done on a text file with MultiEdit it is time to write a Perl program.
Between Perl and MultiEdit there is hardly any manipulation of a text
file that I can't handle.
..
Ability to launch URLs both web and file. Nearly all the rich text
editors support this, and even MultiEdit can do so, including an "Open
File Under Cursor" operation.
Sincerely,
Garold L. Johnson
garold.l.johnson@boeing.com
Modeling and Simulation