Glossary — Knowledge Management

What is PKM (Personal Knowledge Management)?

Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is the practice of collecting information, adding your understanding and sources, and using it in later work or learning. Consider the question a note serves and whether you can trace its evidence when you return to it.

By AI ATAKA

PKM connects saving with reuse

This guide treats PKM as a practice that includes finding information again and using it in a decision or piece of writing. A notes app is a tool; PARA and CODE are methods you may use with it. PKM does not name a particular app or one mandatory sequence for everyone.

Distinguish your personal notes from task management, which tracks actions and deadlines, and a team knowledge base, which holds shared, maintained information. Before moving a personal insight into a team resource, check its evidence and what you can share.

Updated September 9, 2026. The author develops Simple Memo. The worksheet and trial below are practical suggestions created for this site.

Choose a method for the problem you have

CODE is Tiago Forte’s method, not the definition of all PKM. Harold Jarche uses the name Personal Knowledge Mastery. These approaches address different aspects of practice; you do not need to adopt all of them at once.

Focus and use of each approach
Method and primary source	Main focus	When to try it
PARA	Organize information into Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives according to its relationship to your work.	When you struggle to choose a location.
CODE / Building a Second Brain	Capture, Organize, Distill and Express: consider how information will become an output.	When saved information rarely reaches an output.
Zettelkasten	Develop ideas through individual notes and references between them. Luhmann’s actual cards can be explored in the archive.	When exploring relationships between reading or research notes.
Seek → Sense → Share	Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Mastery framework: seek information, make sense of it and share learning.	When connecting your learning with people and work.

A note template that preserves source and use

For your first note, preserve where information came from and what you think about it. The five fields below are this site’s worksheet. Avoid presenting an inference that the source does not make as the source’s own claim.

Question: What do you want to investigate with this note?
Source: Author, title, URL, location and date checked; or the context of your own observation.
Content and interpretation: Keep the source’s claims separate from your interpretation; identify quotations.
Relationship: Name a related note and explain the relationship in one sentence.
Use: Identify a future explanation, document or decision, and note unresolved questions.

Source-note worksheet

Download Markdown

# PKM: from source to use

## Question
- What I want to investigate:

## Source or observation
- Author / title:
- URL / page location:
- Date checked / observation context:

## Content and interpretation
- Source summary in my own words:
- My interpretation (separate from the source):
- Unchecked points / possible counterexamples:

## Related note
- Note title / link:
- How they connect:

## Use
- Future writing, explanation or decision:
- Where I used it / review result:

Try taking one note through to use

This is a suggested trial from this site. Review whether you found the note, checked its original evidence and used it, rather than measuring success by note or tag counts.

Choose one current question, such as how to make meeting decisions easier to check later.
Read one relevant source and record its author, location and the date you checked it.
Summarize it in your own words; put interpretation and unresolved points in separate fields.
Connect one relevant note and explain the relationship. If none is relevant, leave that field empty.
Later, retrieve the note by question or source and use it in an explanation or decision. If retrieval fails, revise the title or location.

Where Simple Memo fits

Simple Memo can be an entry point for capturing thoughts on iPhone and saving them to self-email or a configured Obsidian destination. Include the source URL or page location in the text, then organize it with the worksheet later. You still verify claims, connect notes and use them in an output.

Check email delivery, saving to Obsidian and synchronization to another device separately. Operations that need network or vault access may wait for those conditions. Follow the Obsidian setup and first-save checks when using the integration. Paper or an existing notes app can also be your starting point.

PKM questions

How is PKM different from taking notes?

Taking notes records information. PKM also considers its source, your understanding, retrieval and use in later work or learning. A growing note count does not by itself show successful use.

Is CODE the required process for all PKM?

No. CODE is a method described in Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain. PARA concerns organization, Zettelkasten emphasizes references between notes, and Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Mastery uses Seek, Sense and Share. Try the part that addresses your needs.

Do I need a paid PKM app?

No. You can try recording a source, your interpretation and a use with paper or an existing notes app. Choose additional tools when you identify a concrete need in search, attachments, sharing or export.

What should I save first?

Choose one item relevant to a current question or project and record why it matters. You do not need to collect everything. Keep the source’s claims separate from your interpretation so you can check them later.

How can I avoid organizing notes without using them?

Name one future document, explanation or decision, then later try finding the note through that question. If you cannot find it, revise its title or location. Review unused information according to whether it still needs to be referenced.

Can I save an AI summary as verified knowledge?

If you use an AI summary as a draft, check its claims and source against the original. Separate inferred statements from the source and do not treat unverified quotations or URLs as evidence. For work information, check what you may share and which tools are approved.

Primary sources

PKM Starts with Capture

Capture a thought with its source, then find it and use it later. Start by checking where one note is saved.

Glossary Home What is Markdown? What is Mind Map? What is Zettelkasten? What is Second Brain? Second Brain: Capture First Researchers Use Case Note-to-Email Guide