Preamble#
When managing knowledge (notes, blogs, bookmarks, literature, etc.), once the number of entries becomes too large, the entire system can appear very chaotic.
A typical problem is having too many tags with unclear meanings, which instead creates a mental burden. For example, "learning" and "learning type," "reading" and "books," actually convey the same meaning, leading to multiple synonyms when using tags.
So this article mainly discusses:
- What is the difference between categories and tags in knowledge management?
- How should categories and tags be used?
Categories#
An item can only belong to one category
Categories represent a mutually nested "hierarchical structure," and a piece of knowledge can only belong to one category.
Therefore, when using categories, it is recommended: to categorize as little as possible; if categorizing, there must be boundaries.
Tags#
An item can have multiple tags
Tags represent a mutually connected "network structure," and a piece of knowledge can have multiple tags.
If categories are the horizontal axis, tags are the vertical axis. This allows for more flexible annotation of notes. However, during the use of tags, the following drawbacks are hard to avoid:
The Flattening Disaster Caused by a Large Number of Notes#
When there are many entries to manage, flattened tags can lead to disastrous consequences, there is almost no difference between having tags or not.
As the number of notes increases, simply using tags can make it easy to lose control over the knowledge base, or in other words, a higher "bird's-eye" view capability. For example, later you may need to find what you want from 100 tags. Moreover, there may also be many notes under the same tag.
Practical Use of Categories and Tags#
- Categories: Manage larger modules of content from the perspective of the horizontal axis; categories should be few and cover a relatively broad range of themes, such as technical practice/theoretical study/life discussions, etc.
- Tags: Manage content from the perspective of the vertical axis; hierarchical tags can also be used (xLog only has tags) for management. When adding tags, the following points should be considered:
- Think clearly about the purpose of the tags you set, whether it is for marking or for later classification retrieval.
- Structure grows organically; first, jot down the content, tags can be added gradually later.
- Tag wording should be unified, accurate, and representative; this word should be the first that comes to mind each time you think of tagging.
- Practice: Temporarily plan the following categories and tags:
- Technical Practice
#programming/#debug/#tool/
- Theoretical Study
#CS/#IC/
- Life Discussions
- Reading Essays
- Moments of Light and Shadow
- Technical Practice
In summary, whether it is categories or tags, think carefully before adding them. If there are no ideas, they can be categorized as uncategorized; do not randomly tag, which can lead to a flattening disaster that is difficult to manage.
PS. This post was classified as Technical Practice, tagged as #tool/knowledge management