The 2023 Guide for Developing a Knowledge Base



Do you find you often forget those excellent ideas you have during the day? Do you have a notebook that is difficult to read because of its disorganization? A personal knowledge base solves those problems and more. If you don’t already have a personal knowledge base creating one will undoubtedly help you keep your thoughts straight.

A personal knowledge base is your spot to collect and develop your ideas. It is an invaluable tool that can be used for almost anything in life. It continually grows and adds to your knowledge, deepening your understanding of any topic.

Personal knowledge bases hold a lot of information. It can be overwhelming when you are just beginning. However, there are some guidelines that will help you create a personal knowledge base that will continually benefit you.

What Goes in A Personal Knowledge Base?

A personal knowledge base is an online tool that captures all your thoughts on any subject you know about or find interesting. The knowledge base organizes all of your thoughts and research, so both the fine details and the bigger picture are clear. It allows you to refine those ideas and expand your knowledge in any field you want.

Typically, when you learn something new, you can only remember so much of what you learned before you start forgetting it. You can record all of that new information with a personal knowledge base. This way, you don’t have to rely on imperfect human memory.

You can make a personal knowledge base about anything you would like. For example, it can be about cooking, pet grooming, or best yoga practices. The knowledge base takes all of your combined knowledge and displays it in a way that is understandable. This way, you can share that knowledge with others or just have a reference guide to help grow your expertise.

Tailor Your Knowledge Base for Yourself

A primary reason a personal knowledge base is so valuable is that it does not just contain objective information on the subject. It is also filled with the subjective knowledge of the writer. In the same way that your notes have information from your perspective, a knowledge base’s information is personal. It is a representation of the knowledge of the individual.

So, include your understanding of the information when creating your personal knowledge base. You can still add links and articles for references, but make it about what you learned from those sources. This is an important point because you want your knowledge base to be easily accessible to you.

A considerable advantage to a personal knowledge base is your ability to revisit it and quickly find specific information. Whenever the data is subjective to you, your brain will more easily reconnect the dots. On the other hand, it’s more challenging to find the spot you’re looking for when the information is objective.

Including your subjective knowledge on the topic in your knowledge base is vital for another reason. It allows you to see the way your thoughts manifest on a topic. By seeing your thought patterns, you can grow your ideas. In addition, you can more deeply understand a subject by seeing the way it relates to you.

A personal knowledge base is meant to be continually evolving information. You add to your knowledge base as you learn more about a topic. Instead of new information simply taking the place of forgotten information, your knowledge grows on itself. Nothing is ever lost.

How to Create a Personal Knowledge Base That’s Right for You

So, you’re ready to start a new personal knowledge base. You have an idea you want to develop or a topic you want to understand better. It’s important to remember that this knowledge base will stick with you indefinitely. You can use it any time you revisit this project or topic.

Often when people take a class, they take notes. They may add many things to those notes during the course of the class. Although after the course is finished, they then abandon that notepad. Some people may have taken three years of Spanish but barely remember how to say hello.

You want your personal knowledge base to be more permanent than that. By keeping your personal knowledge base updated, you’re just as fluent in Spanish as you were in school decades later. A significant advantage personal knowledge bases have is their continued relevance.

Gather Your Materials

You won’t need much when creating your personal knowledge base. Most of what you need is in your brain, and you just need to access it. So now is the time to use those notes you made. The notes will remind you of all that you have learned.

It’s essential to add your sources to your personal knowledge base as well. The knowledge base should be mostly your understanding of the information. However, you should include where you gained that understanding when you can. Including your sources allows you to find any information you need to look at again quickly.

Share Your Knowledge

Whenever you write something, it’s good practice to have another person read it. They can find mistakes you missed and areas that are unclear. Peer review is a tool used to improve people’s skills. It allows you to expand your perspective on a subject.

Sharing your knowledge with your peers is a great way to develop your ideas. Everyone has their own way of note-taking, but notes are most useful only to the writer. A personal knowledge base converts those unintelligible notes into something easy to comprehend for anyone. So, your friends can see how you understand that topic and add to your knowledge in addition to their own.

A personal knowledge base is much more than an outline for your notes. It is meant to evolve with your understanding of the subject continually. It allows your peers to understand your perspective of the information, creating opportunities for growth. Knowledge bases deepen your understanding of everything you put on them.

Lightmap is an excellent site for your personal knowledge base. They walk you through how to get started, and their setup is easy to navigate. So get started on your personal knowledge base with them here.