<h1 id="week-2-sept-8-2025"><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" href="#week-2-sept-8-2025"></a>Week 2: Sept. 8, 2025</h1>
<h3 id="personal-knowledge-management-pkm-from-reading-to-linked-thinking"><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" href="#personal-knowledge-management-pkm-from-reading-to-linked-thinking"></a>Personal Knowledge Management (PKM): From Reading to Linked Thinking</h3>
<img src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/resource.mixa.site/cdh2025/Crafting%20Digital%20History/3.%20Tutorials/02%20assets/ObsidianImages/Vault%20Setup/Nodes%20and%20Edges.png" priority="1">
This week is intensive. We are building the foundational intellectual and technical workflow for the entire course, and there are many moving parts. Do not worry if it doesn't work or if it feels overwhelming on your first try. The goal is practice, not perfection. Some tasks are quick and easy while others may require more attention to detail. Embrace the process, ask for help in the <code>#tech-help</code> channel on Discord, and be sure to document your specific issues, 'wins,' and 'fails' in your journal. This deliberate practice is the work.
<h3 id="key-learning-goals"><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" href="#key-learning-goals"></a>Key Learning Goals</h3>
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
<ul>
<li>Articulate the core principles of the Zettelkasten method for academic work.</li>
<li>Distinguish between and effectively use <code>[[wikilinks]]</code> for direct connections and <code>#tags</code> for categorization.</li>
<li>Use the Templater plugin with a hotkey to create structured notes.</li>
<li>Create well-structured literature and atomic notes.</li>
<li>Correctly format a citation in AAA style (or your preferred citation style)</li>
<li>Set up the Mixa plugin for collaborative feedback.</li>
<li>Select an appropriate historical topic and digital tool/method for their research project and propose it for approval.</li>
</ul>
<div><blockquote class="callout" style="border-left-color:undefined;">
<div class="callout-title error" style="background-color: undefined1a;">Important</div>
<div class="callout-content" style="">Remember, its about the process and not the end product. If you are struggling, reach out and ask for help in the <code>#tech-help</code> Discord channel, email me or come to virtual office hours. Digital and computational literacy comes in all forms of bits &#x26; bytes. We are all learning as the digital world is in rapid evolution. Do not panic. If something is not working, walk away, take a breath and go back to it later.</div>
</blockquote></div>
<hr>
<h3 id="checklist-for-week-2"><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" href="#checklist-for-week-2"></a>Checklist for Week 2</h3>
<ol>
<li>
[ ] The Conceptual Framework (Readings):
<ul>
<li>Begin by completing this week's readings. They provide the "why" behind our note-making method.</li>
<li>Reading 1: Ahrens, Sönke. "Introduction" &#x26; "The Slip-Box" from How to Take Smart Notes. <a href="https://archive.org/details/howtotakesmartno0000ahre/mode/2up">https://archive.org/details/howtotakesmartno0000ahre/mode/2up</a></li>
<li>Reading 2: Review <a href="/Crafting%20Digital%20History/3.%20Tutorials/01%20%20memex%20help/08%20How%20To%20Read%20An%20Academic%20Article" title="08 How To Read An Academic Article">08 How To Read An Academic Article</a> and <a href="https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/on-taking-notes-january-2009/">On Taking Notes – AHA</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
[ ] Core Concepts: Links vs. Tags:
<ul>
<li>Before making notes, it's crucial to understand Obsidian's two main organizational tools:</li>
<li><code>[[Wikilinks]]</code>: Use these to create a direct, explicit link between two notes. Think of it as a conceptual connection. For example, a note on <code>[[Empress Theodora]]</code> might link directly to a note on the <code>[[Nika Riots]]</code>. You are making an argument about their relationship.</li>
<li><code>#Tags</code>: Use these to categorize notes or track their status. A tag groups notes by a shared theme but doesn't create a direct link. For example, you might use <code>#person</code>, <code>#event</code>, or <code>#primary-source</code> to categorize your notes. You could also use status tags like <code>#to-read</code> or <code>#in-progress</code>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
[ ] Key Plugins &#x26; Skills for this Week:
<ul>
<li>Templater &#x26; Hotkeys: This plugin is already installed. To make your workflow faster, I have set up "hotkeys" to insert templates. A hotkey is a custom keyboard shortcut. Go to <code>Settings > Hotkeys</code>, search for "Templater," and assign a simple shortcut (like <code>Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + T</code>) to the command "Templater: Open Insert Template modal." This will save you a lot of time. See <a href="/03%20Templater%20Plugin#Hotkeys" title="03 Templater Plugin#Hotkeys">03 Templater Plugin#Hotkeys</a> for a list of preestablished hotkeys and <a href="/Templater%20Video" title="Templater Video">Templater Video</a> (Coming Soon!)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
[ ] Preparing for Publication with Mixa: Your first act of public history.
<ul>
<li>Mixa is an Obsidian plugin that makes it easy to publish your vault as a website. Your final project will be to publish your own research vault as an Open-Access Notebook.</li>
<li>Install the Mixa community plugin. I will provide a video tutorial that walks you through creating a free account and configuring the plugin.</li>
<li>A Note on Support: Do not stress about perfecting the technical setup this week. The optional check-ins in Week 5, 10, and 13 are available to navigate technical issues you may have. Your goal this week is to install the plugin and make a first attempt.</li>
<li>Advanced Option: If you are comfortable with web development, you may choose to use GitHub Pages or Netlify instead. Please obtain my approval first</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<div><blockquote class="callout" style="border-left-color:undefined;">
<div class="callout-title warning" style="background-color: undefined1a;">Optional tools for the courageous:</div>
<div class="callout-content" style="">Zotero is a powerful annotation tool and I recommend using it. See <a href="/Crafting%20Digital%20History/3.%20Tutorials/01%20%20memex%20help/10%20Zotero" title="10 Zotero">10 Zotero</a>. For the non-Zotero user, there is the Obsidian community plugin PDF++ which I use as well. A little tedious at times, but PDFs can be directly stored and annotated in your vault. These plugins are not mandatory but HIGHLY recommended. Explore these only after you are confident with the manual process.</div>
</blockquote></div>
<ol start="5">
<li>
[ ] The Main Activity: Processing the Readings Manually:
<ul>
<li>You will perform the following steps for each of the readings.</li>
<li>Step A: Create the Literature Note.
<ul>
<li>In your vault, navigate to the <code>02 Notes</code> folder.</li>
<li>Create a new note. Title it descriptively (e.g., <code>Ahrens - How to Take Smart Notes</code>).</li>
<li>Use the hotkey control (^) + L to insert the <code>literature note</code> template.</li>
<li>I recommend tagging the note with <code>#LitNote</code> and adding at least two relevant tags.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Step B: Summarize and Cite.
<ul>
<li>In the body of the note, write a summary of the reading in your own words. What is the author's central argument? What are the key takeaways?</li>
<li>At the bottom of the note, manually write a full citation for the source in either AAA or Chicago style (be consistent).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Step C: Create Atomic Notes.
<ul>
<li>From your summary, identify five distinct, interesting ideas.</li>
<li>For each idea, create a new note in the <code>02_Notes</code> folder. Use your Templater hotkey control (^) + A to apply the <code>atomic note</code> template.</li>
<li>Use the tag <code>#AtomicNote</code>, and add at least two relevant tags..</li>
<li>Give each note a clear, descriptive title that represents the single idea within it (e.g., "OCR and 14th Century Latin Texts").</li>
<li>In the body of the note, write out the idea in your own words.</li>
<li>Crucially, link back to the source literature note (e.g., <code>Source: [[Ahrens - How to Take Smart Notes]]</code>) and link any related atomic notes to each other.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
[ ] Mandatory: Setting up Mixa for Feedback:
<ul>
<li>Follow the <a href="/Crafting%20Digital%20History/3.%20Tutorials/01%20%20memex%20help/07%20The%20Simplest%20Online%20Memex%20Worfklow" title="Mixa">Mixa</a> setup instructions provided in the tutorial.</li>
<li>This plugin is a required step for course participation and evaluation.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
[ ] Weekly Reflection (Ungraded):
<ul>
<li>In your <code>01 Weekly Journal</code> folder, create a new note for the week, entitled eg., <code>2025-09-14</code> (Use hotkey to insert Journal Template)</li>
<li>Reflect on this week's activities, readings and processes of setting up your Mixa site and Obsidian vaults (approx. 250 words). What was the most challenging part? What felt like a 'win'? Did you struggle with the hotkey setup? How did it feel to craft the notes and citations manually? In other words, was it advantageous or unhelpful to process your notes without the ability to import an annotation from an article to a note directly? This reflection is valuable for your consolidation assignments.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>

Welcome

1. Course Description

2. Learning Outcomes

3. Course Schedule

4. Evaluation

5. Course Communications

6. Common Regulations

6. Contact the Professor

how the course tech is built; how the course came to be

7. Colophon

8. Reuse

Orientation and Digital Setup

Week 1

Personal Knowledge Management and Linked Thinking

Week 2

Thinking about the “Craft” of Digital History

Week 3

Crusading into the Digital Age of LLMs

Week 4

Consolidation & Check-In Week

Week 5

Digital Excavation

Week 6

Defining Data, 'Dark' Data, & Identifiers

Week 7

Fall Break

Week 8

Seeing the Past?

Week 9

Week 10

Authority and Positionality in Your Digital Research

Week 11

Publicly Crafting a Historical Argument

Week 12

Open-Access Notebook Workshop

Week 13

Exit Ticket

Week 14

1 Setting up your vault

2 Create your first note

3 Templater Plugiin

4 What Goes into a Note?

5 Properties

Hypothesis

The Simplest Online Memex Worfklow

How To Read An Academic Article

FAQ for Common Tech Issues

Where to Find help

Text Formatting

Introduction to your vault

index note

Atomic Note

Literature Note

Process Note

Weekly Journal

Topic Proposal

Weekly Work & Tasks

Consolidation Reflection

Open Access Notebook/Memex

Benchmarking Your Memex

Exit Ticket/Final Project

1 Welcome to Crafting Digital History Transcript

2 Obsidian User Interface (UI) Guide

3 Templater and Hotkeys Setup

4 How to use PDF++

5 Canvas Core Plugin Introductory Tutorial

6 Hypothes.is and Annotating the Web

7 Omnisearch Plugin for Obsidian

8 How to Use Process Notes for Digital Research Projects in Obsidian

9 Properties, Identifiers and Data Management with Obsidian Core Plugin Bases

1 Welcome to Crafting Digital History

2 Some Logistical Updates

3 Welcome to Week Two

4 What is Digital History?

5 Crusading into the Digital Age of LLMs

6 Week Four Exercise Example

7 Using Obsidian for Digital History Research and Note-Making

8 Reflection Feedback Update and Hypothes.is

9 Week Five Update

10 Consolidation Reflection Submission

11 Module Two Wrangling and Critiquing

12 Week 7 Update

13 Week 9 Welcome Back

1. Course Overview

Module 1 Contextualizing

Module 2 Wrangling & Critiquing

Module 3 Arguing & Communicating

2. Schedule

01  memex help

8. Course Files

3. Tutorials

4. Assessment

5. VideoTutorials

Crafting Digital History

News