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Software for mindmapping and
information organisation
Vic's compendium of software that supports knowledge management and information organisation in graphical form. Includes mind mappers, concept mappers, outliners, hierarchical organisers, KM support and knowledge browsers, 2D and 3D.More...
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| From:
Assaph Mehr, Peter Fitzgibbons, Nicolas Delsaux
Product:
Pimki Added:
2008-02-20
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19
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| What they say: |
"
Pimki is a PIM (Personal Information Manager) loosely based on Instiki's Wiki technology.
Besides all the regular Instiki features, Pimki adds:
Mind Map: a graph of wiki connections (made with GraphViz). All graphs can be laid-out with the 4 GraphViz engines. There are several options for what pages to include in the map. Graph contents can be arranged as:
Page ? linked pages
Authors ? pages
Categories ? pages
Defaults can be set through the edit_web page.
Requires that GraphViz be installed and the bin on the system PATH environment to be enabled." |
| Observations: |
Personal wiki but it finds its way into Mind-mapping.org because it has a Mind Map feature. Needs Ruby.
Can anyone send me some screenshots? None on the site |
| Where: |
http://pimki.rubyforge.org/ |
| OS: |
Linux, Mac, Windows |
| Price: |
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| Categories: |
mind maps, wiki-related |
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| From:
AT&T (originally)
Product:
GraphViz Added:
2007-04-16
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20
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| What they say: |
"
Graph visualization is a way of representing structural information as diagrams of abstract graphs and networks. Automatic graph drawing has many important applications in software engineering, database and web design, networking, and in visual interfaces for many other domains.
Graphviz is open source graph visualization software. It has several main graph layout programs. It also has web and interactive graphical interfaces, and auxiliary tools, libraries, and language bindings.
The Graphviz layout programs take descriptions of graphs in a simple text language, and make diagrams in several useful formats such as images and SVG for web pages, Postscript for inclusion in PDF or other documents; or display in an interactive graph browser. (Graphviz also supports GXL, an XML dialect.)
Graphviz has many useful features for concrete diagrams, such as options for colors, fonts, tabular node layouts, line styles, hyperlinks, and custom shapes.
In practice, graphs are usually generated from an external data sources, but they can also be created and edited manually, either as raw text files or within a graphical editor.
(Graphviz was not intended to be a Visio replacement, so it is probably frustrating to try to use it that way.)" |
| Observations: |
Graph Visualization Software. See also 'Tomboy mindmap'. This requires considerable technical knowledge to use but is extremely flexible, as the gallery at http://www.graphviz.org/Gallery.php shows |
| Where: |
http://www.graphviz.org/ |
| OS: |
Linux, Mac |
| Price: |
Free (open source) |
| Categories: |
concept maps, diagramming, networks |
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| From:
Austhink Software Pty Ltd.
Product:
Rationale Added:
2007-07-07
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21
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| What they say: |
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Rationale(tm) is the first high-quality software for argument mapping, the diagramming of reasoning and argument.
Rationale(tm) helps:
Professionals handle complex reasoning and decision making more effectively. Students learn the fundamentals of good reasoning, critical thinking, and argumentative essay writing.
A good map clarifies and organizes thinking by showing the logical relationships between thoughts that are expressed simply and precisely.
Argument maps are driven by asking, 'Should I believe that? Why, or why not?'.
You can produce two kinds of argument maps in RationaleTM:
1. Reasoning maps, which lay out arguments in a quick, intuitive way
2. Analytic maps, which enable a more careful and rigorous analysis of an argument." |
| Observations: |
The site defines argument maps as 'box-and-line diagrams that lay out visually reasoning and evidence for and against a statement or claim.'
When Austhink released bCisive there was some discussion about their differences on the Rationale Google Group. The company responded in this way: ''bCisive is intended for the 'professional' or workplace market and is oriented towards business decision making. Rationale is being repositioned as a purely educational product, focusing on reasoning, argument and critical thinking.
In bCisive, you'll find much stronger support for decision making (inc. the ''decision summary'' which automatically generates the rationale behind decisions), for formatting of maps, and for communicating with others. Also, a lot of work has gone into making it even more easy to use.
Somebody whose main interest is using this kind of tool in the workplace, specifically for decisions, will find bCisive a much more suitable tool. But somebody who is interested in teaching the fundamentals of reasoning and critical thinking will find Rationale more suitable.'' |
| Where: |
http://www.austhink.com/rationale/ |
| OS: |
Windows |
| Price: |
$199; (Educational $49.00) |
| Categories: |
argument maps, belief networks |
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 Articles
For me, web research and concept maps are a good pairing. As I research - I build a map. As I map - I realise new areas that need research.
This papers variously by Arguedas, Cañas, Carnot, Carvalho, Dunn, Eskridge, Gram, Leake, Maguitman, Muldoon and Reichherzer have helped me to understand why, and see other possibilities.
This piece discusses the nature of knowledge, the difficulty in measuring achievement in the three types of domain knowledge, and how concept maps offer one way of judging students' knowledge structure.
Here is a link to a set of free templates for many types of mind maps. This is good solid stuff, and if you have MindManager, there's no reason not to get it.
But if you don't have MindManager, well, there's still no reason to hold back - go and pick up the MindManager Viewer from MindJet's site. That is also free.
Here's an interesting slideshow in which authors Simon Buckingham Shum and Alexandra Okada make a case for a move away from text towards knowledge or mind mapping presentation in a knowledge community. Their objective is to change cognition, no less.
It looks like businesses are in for a tough time in 2008 and beyond. If your employer downsizes, how can you take steps to make sure you're one of the survivors?
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