Digital Commonplace Software

Digital Commonplace Software is a new kind of software made to give people the ability to store ideas, notes and research around several topics.Contrary to popular belief, digital commonplace software is not notice taking software. Therefore, I felt it appropriate to create this to spell it out the variations and, moreover, what to look for in a good digital commonplace service.To begin with, I will describe the art of commonplacing and what it really means to keep a "commonplace"...CommonplacingCommonplacing was developed in the late middle ages as a way to store a huge variety of ideas, notes and research material on the newly mass produced paper that was becoming ever cheaper. Remember, not so way back when, people published on starched pet hide. The introduction of cheap paper was a massive development.

Anyway, commonplacing began to gain prominence with the introduction of the commonplace book. This is a cross between a journal and notebook, allowing the author to keep a huge amount of knowledge & information inside a relatively small medium.Whilst keeping a commonplace book became fashionable in many Euro universities near the end of the 15th century, it's predominantly known for the large number of "luminary" minds who used the strategy to perfect their work, ideas and ultimately helped create many new ideas for the modern age.Indeed, without famous brands Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelanglo, we would not have anywhere close to the fascination with commonplacing we do today. You see, commonplacing - as demonstrated by these colossi - is a way of thinking which lends itself to the written form, not the other way around.The only reason many people kept commonplace "books" was because other means of storing information were not available. Certainly, that has now changed and we have access to a really exceptional medium in personal computing and the web. This is actually the starting point for Digital Commonplace software.Digital CommonplaceDigital Commonplace software is actually a mix between take note taking applications and digital system builder software.The big problem is that many people simply use the likes of Evernote or Onenote to attempt to create a digital commonplace. Whilst these tools are effective at taking records, they're not very good at the synthesis necessary to make commonplacing a bountiful ideal.Eventually, what you have to determine while searching for digital commonplace software are several primary pieces of functionality...

Firstly, you need a tool which is really as natural and organic enough to encourage visitors to input their best ideas. This will go beyond taking records - it will come in the form of imagery and lots of other potential features.Secondly, you should be able to synthesise your inputs. The primary problem with the countless "note" taking applications is they are unable to determine which notes belong in which location - which makes it very difficult to identify the parts of the system you can gain access to when needed.Thirdly, you need the extra features that only a reliable commonplacing tool could provide. There has never been a digital commonplace, and therefore you need to appreciate that to be able to get one working, you must have a great deal of original thinking to be able to get the right mixture of features and stylization.