Evernote and RemNote: tags versus bidirectional links

[Tamagotchi 46]

Imagine atoms in a primordial soup. It may be the same atoms there today, but what makes life interesting is how they have been arranged. Information is a little like those atoms. Its value comes from how it has been organised.

Note taking software is all about organising information. Evernote has had great success linking information with tags. Here is a comparison of tags versus bidirectional links.

Bidirectional links have gain popularity in recent years with Notion, Roam, Obsidian and RemNote. The links related information in two notes and permit you to jump back and forwards between them. 

How do links compare to tags?

Tags can be used to link notes. A tag search returns a sorted list. It is a linear structure. With bidirectional links, a concept can be linked to other notes in which it is found. It is a hub and spoke arrangement. Both are the same though, a label connects nodes (1:n relationship).

Dynamic (saved) searches

Imagine searching for the tag "dog" (#dog) and another for the concept "dog" connecting to same notes with links ([[dog]]). A search "find #dog" or "find [[dog]]" generates the same list. Changing the mechanism does not change the result. 

Hierarchy

Our information atoms can be connected in a hierarchical chain. 

From top to bottom: B - E - K- A - G - C - H - D - I. This captures the relationship between the information. We commonly have a second hierarchy. A "folder" contains "notes" and "notes" contain "paragraphs" (folder - notes - paragraphs). Using square brackets to block together folders [] and round brackets to block together notes (), there are many ways to show the same relationships. 

• [B - E - K- A - G] - (C - H - D) - I : 5 nested folders, 3 nested documents and 1 paragraph.
• [B - E] - (K- A - G) - C - H - D - I : 2 nested folders, 3 nested documents and 4 nested paragraphs.

Choosing one over the other is a matter of preference and convenience only.

Comparing Evernote with RemNote

Both Evernote and RemNote use the same concepts but with different terminology that can be confusing. Comparing Evernote with RemNote terminology, a folder in Evernote is still called that in RemNote, but Evernote Note is a RemNote Document and a paragraph in RemNote is called a Rem.

Just as in Evernote you can have different types of a paragraph (normal, bullet, check box, header and numbered) and, so too, RemNote has these types of Rem. The differences start here.

In RemNote everything is a Rem and there are other Rem types: 

1. Linking types: Tag, Reference (link), Portal (iframe concept)
2. Hierarchical types: Folder, Document and normal "text"

Linking types connect Rem. Tags are clear. References are bidirectional links. A Portal is a window in a document showing Rem found elsewhere. You can not only see the Rem but change them in the Portal. 

Hierarchy revisited

Hierarchial relationships between information were discussed above. RemNote has the same of Folder, Document, etc but the Rems only differ in type. So it is possible to switch between following by simply promoting the Documents to Folders and "paragraph" Rem to Documents.

• [B - E - K- A - G] - (C - H - D) - I : 5 nested folders, 3 nested documents and 1 paragraph.
• [B - E] - (K- A - G) - C - H - D - I : 2 nested folders, 3 nested documents and 4 nested paragraphs.

What can be promoted, you can also be demoted. It is a simple change.

So why have folders?

We are familiar with folders shown in the left sidebar and it provides some level of visual organisation. Apart from the visualisation, nested documents do the same thing. 

Network thinking

Roam, Obsidian and RemNote have shift way from hierarchical visualisation of folders to visualisation of links. RemNote still has the hierarchy and Documents can be made visible as folders at any time just by changing the Rem type. The emphasis on networks made up of bidirectional links makes folders less important, however.

Conclusion: tags or links

As both References (links) can fulfil the same function as Tags in RemNote, there is little reason to use Tags. 

Emoji are also References. A Reference can be any concept." 🙂 smile" is a Reference in RemNote.

 

 

[gazumped 11,661]

3 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Roam, Obsidian and RemNote have shift way from hierarchical visualisation of folders to visualisation of links. RemNote still has the hierarchy and Documents can be made visible as folders at any time just by changing the Rem type. The emphasis on networks made up of bidirectional links makes folders less important, however.

These three (and you could throw in Workflowy,  which is similar in some respects) seem very similar - with some varied bells and whistles - and very different from Evernote's approach.  Not better,  not worse; just different.  For anyone with an existing body of notes,  there would be (IMHO) a sizeable learning curve,  and though I have a long MediaWiki background - and you can add them to the list too - I find this linking paradigm incompatible with the kind of data I need to capture for what I do.  (I'm still trying to define what exactly that is too...)

Try RemNote out by all means - it's web-based,  though I didn't get far enough to see whether there's an offline mode.  Like Roam I connected a spider's web series of topics together,  but there was no structure (which I realise is kind've the point) to show its overall organisation.  Use it if it works for you - but don't get side-tracked by the shiny things when you're here to squeegee a swamp.