A quick heads-up today about a great tool I've discovered recently. If you go to www.wikimindmap.org, and type in a subject, you will get a mind map for that subject, based on the wickipedia entry for it. Here are a few ways to use it:
* In brainstorming. The mind map will give you a batch of related topics, and if you click on one of those, that term goes to the middle and generates another batch of related topics. By just playing around, you'll be led to all kinds of new connections and ideas.
* In early research. The related topics will give you an instant overview of the topic, and then you can follow the different branches to get more information.
* Late in the process. If you've already written an article or book proposal about something, a mindmap will let you know whether you've missed any key components.
Give it a try, you may think of other ways to use it as well (if you do, let me know: [email protected] or leave a comment).
