On the Automatic Generation of Knowledge Connections

Abstract

Recently, the topic of Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) has seen a surge in popularity. This is illustrated by the accelerated growth of apps such as Notion, Obsidian, and Roam Research, as well as the appearance of books like “How to Take Smart Notes” and “Building a Second Brain.” However, the area of PKM has not seen much integration with Natural Language Processing (NLP). This opens up an interesting opportunity to apply NLP techniques to operating with knowledge. This paper proposes a methodology that uses NLP and networked note-taking apps to transform a siloed text collection into an interconnected and inter-navigable text collection. The navigation mechanisms are based on shared concepts and semantic relatedness between texts. The paper proposes a methodology, presents demonstrations using examples, and describes an evaluation to determine if the system functions correctly and whether the proposed connections are coherent.