%% [[PKM]] %% [[Writing Philosophy with Hypertext]] - [[Choosing a PKM]] - [[Program v Platform]] - **[[Future Proofing]]** - [[Digital Accessibility]] # Future Proofing - Future proofing refers to the act of organizing something so that unanticipated changes do not render it obsolete. - The potential of a well built notetaking system increases as the complexity of the system increases. But this complexity must be effectively managed by the user and the software they use. - PKMs that come with a lot of pre-built structure, that use non-plaintext formats, or that prevent the user from easily storing local copies of their notes are all vulnerable with respect to future proofing. - Pre-built structure may become a hinderance when a writer is ready to take off the training wheels, as it were. - Non-plaintext formats lock a writer into a PKM unless there are robust conversion tools for exporting their notes to plaintext. - If users are not able to locally backup their notes, they are vulnerable to loosing their notes if something befalls the developer of the PKM they are using, e.g. if the developer dies. ## References - Beale 2002, Archetypes - Constraint-based Domain Models for Future-proof Information Systems - Dawson 2011, Future-Proof Web Design - Duvivier 2018, How to ‘Future-Proof’ the Use of Space in Universities by Integrating New Digital Technologies - Melin et al 2015, Towards A Future Proof System for Higher Education and Research in Finland - Rechert et al 2012, Future-Proof Preservation of Complex Software Enviroments - Schmidt et al 2014, Evaluation of Knowledge to Future-proof the Knowledge Base