NoteNet

NoteNet is a note-taking system that externalizes some of the thinking in which researchers must engage by suggesting old notes related to the current line of work.

Based on connectionist models of human thought, the software maintains a network of the associations between notes a researcher takes down. Creating, modifying, or viewing a note activates that note, and causes a wave of spreading activation to propagate through the network to related notes. Highly active notes are suggested to the researcher as potential interesting. This replaces several manual tasks: searching for relevant resources, remembering old ideas in light of new information, avoiding fruitless repetitive investigations, and (most interestingly) integrating ideas in novel ways.