PKM Tool Concepts

A beginner’s overview to picking the right PKM tool!

There are new articles published about tools for PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) almost daily, in part because new tools are being constantly built and implemented.

In fact, there are so many of these tools that it can become almost immediately overwhelming for a PKM novice.

• Which of the literally hundreds of digital PKM tools should you go for?
• Does it matter if you pick one and then want to change later?
• Is there really such a thing as a perfect tool for managing the sum total of your thinking and experience?

In a word: no.

Any tool that attempts to sell you on the idea that it is the best is, simply, lying to you.

This is a rapidly expanding field, one gaining ground in the popular consciousness. In such a situation, oodles of dollars are just waiting to be made by the intrepid, the callous, and the downright dishonest.

Fundamentally, Tiago Forte is right when he says that it doesn’t matter what tool you use, so long as you have a good system. But this isn’t the complete picture.

• There are such things as bad PKM tools.
• There are popular tools that make it very difficult to leave once you’ve started to use them. Tools that fail to protect your privacy, or mine your data for their own ends.
• And there are tools that have already gone by the wayside, dying out only to leave their users struggling to pick up the pieces.

As such, the goal of this article is twofold:

1. To outline the core aspects to look for in a good PKM tool
2. To understand if a tool can support the best PKM system, the best structure, for your needs.

The core principles of good PKM tools