I’ve been fascinated with the Zettelkasten idea ever since i read Sönke Ahrens’ book How To Take Smart Notes. I just came across a new project by Yibie called org-workbench that marries the idea of a Zettelkasten card to all or parts of one or more Org files.
The idea is that each heading and its content is imported to a single card. Subheadings are numbered in the way that Niklas Luhmann used for his famous Zettelkasten. The cards themselves are independent of the original Org files so the cards can be manipulated without affecting the source files, although there is a facility to sync them.
On the workbench, all the cards are at the same level so it’s easy to move them up and down. That means, for example, that you can move a card from one subtree to another, something that’s not easy—without cutting and pasting—with the Org file itself.
The description isn’t clear on the exact way the package functions and I haven’t had a chance to try it out so I can’t be too specific on how it works but it seems like a nice package for anyone who likes the Zettelkasten method. Take a look at the README for more details if you’re interested.
Update : See Yibie’s comment below for some clarification on the Luhmann numbering.