Information mapping |
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Topics and fields |
Node–link approaches |
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See also |
A personal knowledge base (PKB) is an electronic tool used to express, capture, and later retrieve the personal knowledge of an individual. It differs from a traditional database in that it contains subjective material particular to the owner, that others may not agree with nor care about. Importantly, a PKB consists primarily of knowledge, rather than information; in other words, it is not a collection of documents or other sources an individual has encountered, but rather an expression of the distilled knowledge the owner has extracted from those sources or from elsewhere. [1] [2] [3]
The term personal knowledge base was mentioned as early as the 1980s, [4] [5] [6] [7] but the term came to prominence in the 2000s when it was described at length in publications by computer scientist Stephen Davies and colleagues, [1] [2] who compared PKBs on a number of different dimensions, the most important of which is the data model that each PKB uses to organize knowledge. [1]: 18 [3]
Davies and colleagues examined three aspects of the data models of PKBs: [1]: 19–36
Davies and colleagues also emphasized the principle of transclusion, "the ability to view the same knowledge element (not a copy) in multiple contexts", which they considered to be "pivotal" to an ideal PKB. [1] [2] They concluded, after reviewing many design goals, that the ideal PKB was still to come in the future. [1] [2]
In their publications on PKBs, Davies and colleagues discussed knowledge graphs as they were implemented in some software of the time. [1] [2] Later, other writers used the term personal knowledge graph (PKG) to refer to a PKB featuring a graph structure and graph visualization. [8] However, the term personal knowledge graph is also used by software engineers to refer to the different subject of a knowledge graph about a person, [9] in contrast to a knowledge graph created by a person in a PKB. [10]
Davies and colleagues also differentiated PKBs according to their software architecture: file-based, database-based, or client–server systems (including Internet-based systems accessed through desktop computers and/or handheld mobile devices). [1]: 37–41
Non-electronic personal knowledge bases have probably existed in some form for centuries: Leonardo da Vinci's journals and notes are a famous example of the use of notebooks. Commonplace books, florilegia, annotated private libraries, and card files (in German, Zettelkästen) of index cards and edge-notched cards are examples of formats that have served this function in the pre-electronic age. [11]
Undoubtedly the most famous early formulation of an electronic PKB was Vannevar Bush's description of the " memex" in 1945. [1] [2] [12] In a 1962 technical report, human–computer interaction pioneer Douglas Engelbart (who would later become famous for his 1968 " Mother of All Demos" that demonstrated almost all the fundamental elements of modern personal computing) described his use of edge-notched cards to partially model Bush's memex. [13]
In their 2005 paper, Davies and colleagues mentioned the following, among others, as examples of software applications that had been used to build PKBs using various data models and architectures: [1]
What does 'personal' in PKG mean? It could be taken to mean (objective) facts about the user (I ate lunch at restaurant X on date Y. I like fish.), subjective beliefs of the user ([I believe that] Pineapple pizza is just wrong. The Earth is flat.), or objective facts that are of particular interest to the user (Pineapple pizza is also often called Hawaiian Pizza).
I have a memory annex which serves my purposes. It uses edge-notched cards.
Information mapping |
---|
Topics and fields |
Node–link approaches |
|
See also |
A personal knowledge base (PKB) is an electronic tool used to express, capture, and later retrieve the personal knowledge of an individual. It differs from a traditional database in that it contains subjective material particular to the owner, that others may not agree with nor care about. Importantly, a PKB consists primarily of knowledge, rather than information; in other words, it is not a collection of documents or other sources an individual has encountered, but rather an expression of the distilled knowledge the owner has extracted from those sources or from elsewhere. [1] [2] [3]
The term personal knowledge base was mentioned as early as the 1980s, [4] [5] [6] [7] but the term came to prominence in the 2000s when it was described at length in publications by computer scientist Stephen Davies and colleagues, [1] [2] who compared PKBs on a number of different dimensions, the most important of which is the data model that each PKB uses to organize knowledge. [1]: 18 [3]
Davies and colleagues examined three aspects of the data models of PKBs: [1]: 19–36
Davies and colleagues also emphasized the principle of transclusion, "the ability to view the same knowledge element (not a copy) in multiple contexts", which they considered to be "pivotal" to an ideal PKB. [1] [2] They concluded, after reviewing many design goals, that the ideal PKB was still to come in the future. [1] [2]
In their publications on PKBs, Davies and colleagues discussed knowledge graphs as they were implemented in some software of the time. [1] [2] Later, other writers used the term personal knowledge graph (PKG) to refer to a PKB featuring a graph structure and graph visualization. [8] However, the term personal knowledge graph is also used by software engineers to refer to the different subject of a knowledge graph about a person, [9] in contrast to a knowledge graph created by a person in a PKB. [10]
Davies and colleagues also differentiated PKBs according to their software architecture: file-based, database-based, or client–server systems (including Internet-based systems accessed through desktop computers and/or handheld mobile devices). [1]: 37–41
Non-electronic personal knowledge bases have probably existed in some form for centuries: Leonardo da Vinci's journals and notes are a famous example of the use of notebooks. Commonplace books, florilegia, annotated private libraries, and card files (in German, Zettelkästen) of index cards and edge-notched cards are examples of formats that have served this function in the pre-electronic age. [11]
Undoubtedly the most famous early formulation of an electronic PKB was Vannevar Bush's description of the " memex" in 1945. [1] [2] [12] In a 1962 technical report, human–computer interaction pioneer Douglas Engelbart (who would later become famous for his 1968 " Mother of All Demos" that demonstrated almost all the fundamental elements of modern personal computing) described his use of edge-notched cards to partially model Bush's memex. [13]
In their 2005 paper, Davies and colleagues mentioned the following, among others, as examples of software applications that had been used to build PKBs using various data models and architectures: [1]
What does 'personal' in PKG mean? It could be taken to mean (objective) facts about the user (I ate lunch at restaurant X on date Y. I like fish.), subjective beliefs of the user ([I believe that] Pineapple pizza is just wrong. The Earth is flat.), or objective facts that are of particular interest to the user (Pineapple pizza is also often called Hawaiian Pizza).
I have a memory annex which serves my purposes. It uses edge-notched cards.