In his Zettelkasten Luhman used tags sparringly, in this video explains that Luhman used tags more as doors into the Zettelkasten, rather than as a way of grouping things together. Additionally, it makes automatic searching for keywords harder and forces you to look through your ideas manually. Which improves the linking of notes. Sources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TnUNN39NBU&list=WL&index=14

There are a few principles attached to a Zettelkasten: The principle of atomicity: A note should contain one idea, and one idea only. The reason for this is that you want to be able to link to an idea, and not some idea hidden on a card somewhere in the middle. The principle of autonomy: Each note should be self-contained and comprehensible. This includes autonomy from other notes, but also from the sources.

The following image shows when you should start a new note for your slipbox. And what to do if there are similar notes: Start by finding similar notes, if there aren’t any make a new note. If there are notes, but not related, make a new note. Notes related to the topic exist, if these do not fit the idea create a new note but adhere to the keywords. A few notes roughly match: creating a new zettel is a bit too much.

#notes A Zettelkasten is said to be a second brain. Through the linking of notes the system may surprise you in insightful ways. What is a zettelkasten? The word can be split into two ‘zettel’ and ‘kasten’. Zettel meaning a note and kasten simply box. So, a zettelkasten is a box of ideas. But what makes this box special/useful? Ideas behind zettelkasten Rather than writing notes down in categorized notebooks the notes should have a free-flowing category.