One of the note-taking apps that I have been hearing quite a lot about is Roam Research. I don’t have much to say about it at the moment, however, I have started to take a course on it so I could really dive deep and have a better understanding of it. Specifically, I’m taking the Effortless Output course as a part of Forte labs, partially as an attempt to see what these courses are like, because I’d like to put one together myself. But I also genuinely want to know what the hubbub is all about. (links are non-affiliate)
I’m only a little ways into the course. While I’m not planning on jumping ship from DEVONthink as my note-taking tool of choice, I can definitely see its appeal. I hope to have a more robust write up of similarities and differences when I’m done with the course, in about a month or so.
In the meantime, if you have any thoughts about note-taking apps you like most and why, please feel free to add them to the comments.
I really like the idea of Roam and also appreciate that it is outlining-based rather than Markdown-based, as it really fits my way of thinking.
However, as a cloud-only app for note-taking, I have some privacy concerns. I won’t put my research data nor student data into a unencrypted cloud service. Currently, my main hubs are DevonThink and OmniFocus (both with end-to-end encryption!)
Previously I’ve been doing some Zettelkasten-style notetaking in DevonThink similar to how you describe it in your book. But recently I’ve also been playing around with using OmniOutliner again. Outlining just fits my note-taking style best.
I think I’m not really the type for atomic notes, but prefer like “evergreen” notes. I have one open file for each current project or topic which stays the same for the duration of the project. When a project is done I’ll put the file to DT. I also create outlines for certain events like conferences or symposiums (those usually get archived away directly after the event).
I put all related resources like PDFs, PPTs, DOCs etc. to DT, so I regularly use DT-URLs inside the outlines to link to other documents or even other outlines. Of course it is quite a bit more clunky than Wikilinks, but well.
Thanks for the comment, Marc. That sounds like it works great! Do you put the OmniOutliner files in DEVONthink as well?
I agree with the local-based program. I really do not want personal stuff in an unencrypted cloud service.
I’m continuing to take this Roam course, and it’s really opened my eyes as to what’s possible. I still plan to continue in DEVONthink as my notes and files database, but maybe I can bring over some of the note-taking ideas that the presenter, Nat Eliason, describes.
Yes, it is definitely a good source of inspiration, even if you end up using another app. I also often read forums of various apps I do not use, mainly because they contain interesting discussions you can transfer to other apps too, even if the app they are discussing is intimidating (like the Tinderbox forum ;-)).
In my current workflow I keep the OmniOutliner files on the iPad while they are active/current, but file them away to DT when a project is considered done. I’m still switching between one long-running file for each project vs. smaller single files for different steps/meetings, but currently I think the first approach has some advances for me (and OmniOutliner also allows you to focus on a subtree of a file). When I have some spare time I’ll write my current workflow down in some more detail on my productivity blog.
BTW DevonThink seems to get scriptable incoming/outcoming references soon, which will be interesting.
https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/backlinks-aka-incoming-links-revisited-dttg/58299/14
Although I was reticent at the beignning, I am now using Roam Research on a daily basis. I thought I would prefer Obsidian because of the better/safer file system… but I ended up settling on RR because it really suits how I think.
I still make a constant backup via GitHub in JSON and markdown format… I use the latter to populate an Obsidian database (so I could go easily back if needed). One reason that I amy end up making the switch is that I am also a big user of DTPro — in principle, an Obsidian database is ideally suited for DTPro since it entirely based on local markdown files. If you did not check it out, you definitely should! It is as actively developed as RR.
I also did the Effortless Output course and the Cite to Write too. Great to get started, but I rapidly adapted my workflow for my own needs (basic science/medical/clinical research).
Both Obsidian and RR work beautifully with Bookends, Highlights, ThreadReader and Readwise.
The Roam42 addons are great, so are all the custom js and css that so many users are sharing.