How People Manage Knowledge in their "Second Brains"- A Case Study with Industry Researchers Using Obsidian

2025-09-24

AI Summary

Information overload intensifies challenges in personal knowledge management (PKM), necessitating deeper understanding of how users construct and navigate knowledge bases across diverse contexts (e.g., work and personal life). This study employs a qualitative, in-depth case approach—combining semi-structured interviews and behavioral observation—to examine how researchers in a Brazilian laboratory use Obsidian to build and maintain personal knowledge bases. We identify “retrieval-driven construction” as a core behavioral pattern: users’ knowledge organization and annotation practices are fundamentally shaped by anticipated retrieval needs. Based on these empirical insights, we propose three AI-assisted design directions for personalized PKM tools: dynamic bidirectional link recommendation, semantic search enhancement, and context-aware annotation support. The findings provide empirically grounded, actionable guidelines for developing intelligent knowledge management systems that align with real-world user practices. (149 words)

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Conversational Systems for Recommendation & Retrieval
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Knowledge Acquisition
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Conceptual Inference and Reasoning

Application Category

• Semantics and Knowledge: Applications of semantic technologies for improving search, browsing, recommendation, personalization
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Studies of user behavior, including longitudinal effects of personalized systems
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Personalized, context-aware and across-device search

Abstract

People face overwhelming information during work activities, necessitating effective organization and management strategies. Even in personal lives, individuals must keep, annotate, organize, and retrieve knowledge from daily routines. The collection of records for future reference is known as a personal knowledge base. Note-taking applications are valuable tools for building and maintaining these bases, often called a ''second brain''. This paper presents a case study on how people build and explore personal knowledge bases for various purposes. We selected the note-taking tool Obsidian and researchers from a Brazilian lab for an in-depth investigation. Our investigation reveals interesting findings about how researchers build and explore their personal knowledge bases. A key finding is that participants' knowledge retrieval strategy influences how they build and maintain their content. We suggest potential features for an AI system to support this process.

Problem

• Studying how people build and explore personal knowledge bases using Obsidian
• Investigating knowledge management strategies for overwhelming information in work activities
• Analyzing how retrieval strategies influence content building in personal knowledge systems

Innovation

• Case study with researchers using Obsidian
• Analyzed knowledge retrieval strategies' influence
• Proposed AI features for knowledge management