If you’d like to crank up your notetaking skills to eleven (or just learn how to use Obsidian), drop by the IAM Lounge (LSK 306) Friday, May 17, for an informal workshop on the Obsidian notetaking app. Bring your laptop. Pizza lunch will served.

Time: Friday, May 17, 11:00-1:00 (lunch break at 12:00)

Location: IAM Lounge (LSK 306)

Speaker: Matthew Scott, UBC Department of Mathematics

Graph-based writing: What? But why? Okay, how?

What is the best way to structure a research workflow to maximize efficiency
and satisfaction? That would be the Zettelkasten method, a system where notes (markdown files) are organised through links rather than folders. I give my own take on this popular system and how I use it every day to conduct research in mathematics from ideation to publication. This simple method, coupled with a good understanding and good tools, has a surprising number of benefits including efficiency, organization, and an improved capability to recall and re-use previous work.

The workshop will proceed as follows: first I will show what a Zettelkasten
workflow looks like by showcasing my own network of notes, which I have been building for three years. Then I will give my understanding of the ideas and principles undergirding this method and the reasons it is inherently more efficient than traditional folder-based, word-based, or overleaf-based methods of writing. The last part of the workshop will be hands-on. You will learn how to use Obsidian, a popular markdown editor specialized for this type of workflow. I will guide you through essential features, best practices, and setting up crucial plugins that will bring your work to the next level.