Personal Information Management Using the Note Management Tool Evernote

Tagging vs. Folder Strategy

Abstract

Objective — The goal of this study was to find preferences for tagging or for the use of folders in personal information management using the example of the note management tool “Evernote” and to identify motivating and demotivating factors which lead to the choice of tagging or folders.
Methods — The study was conducted using a combination of content analysis, discourse analysis and social media monitoring. The web extraction tool “import.io” was applied to extract the data from an Evernote forum, and the analysis program “MAXQDA” was used to carry out data coding.
Results — There was no significant preference for neither tagging nor the use of folders. Instead a preference for the combined use of these strategies was found. A variety of different motivations and demotivations became evident, some of them typical for the particular strategy and others influenced rather by the specific tool.
Conclusion — The results of the study indicate that, apart from other factors, the choice of the strategy for personal information management is strongly affected by the software tool applied – in this case Evernote.

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