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Personal knowledge management tools and methodologies

Created October 24, 2021 · Updated June 27, 2026 · 1 min read · 233 words

Hierarchical knowledge silos

Section titled “Hierarchical knowledge silos”

Strengths

Section titled “Strengths”
  • Easy to get started; user-friendly, intuitive UX
  • Built-in synchronization
  • Freemium

Weaknesses

Section titled “Weaknesses”
  • Hard to get data out (proprietary XML etc.)
  • Do not impose/enforce structured note taking

Examples

Section titled “Examples”
  • Microsoft OneNote (for Windows 10+, for Office 365/2019+)
    • Proprietary software and storage format
    • Limited API available (Office version only)
    • Primary copy stored in the cloud (OneDrive or SharePoint)
    • Collaborate on “Notebook” level
  • Evernote
    • Proprietary software and storage format
  • Atlassian Confluence
    • Proprietary software and storage format
    • Collaborate on “Space” or “Page” (item) level
  • Microsoft SharePoint
    • Proprietary software and storage format
    • Collaborate on “Space” or “Page” (item) level
  • Google Keep
    • Proprietary software and storage format
    • Stored in the cloud (only)

Graph-based knowledge silos

Section titled “Graph-based knowledge silos”

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

Local-first, graph-based knowledge management apps

Section titled “Local-first, graph-based knowledge management apps”

Usual features

Section titled “Usual features”
  • Notes often stored locally in a non-XML text format (Markdown etc.)
  • Graph-based navigation (links, tags)
  • Block references

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

Methodologies

Section titled “Methodologies”