Journal database
From WhyNotWiki
A journal, by my definition, is a collection of important memories, recorded around the time that they happen. Synonymous with memoir. The text of a journal can be augmented by means of photos, making it then a photo journal.
Contents |
[edit] Fields
- When it happened
- Title/name of event
- Details
[edit] Who was there
I've discovered/decided (rather recently, in fact) that it is just as important for me to record who was a part of an event/memory as it is to record what happened. I've often found myself wondering, "who else was there?" "Was [so-and-so] there? I can't remember..." "Was he in that class with us? Where do I remember him from??" If I had detailed records about all the whos, I could just query my database for the answer.
Each shared memory is also something that other people might be interested in. I could automatically allow access to the details (my perspective) of each shared memory to shared-memory-particpants who authenticate themselves. They could even expand on the details of the memory, writing up their own memories of the event, and sharing their unique viewpoint to make that journal entroy even richer.
Even if I don't record the full details of an event, if I record who else was a part of the memory, there is a good chance we could come back later--even years later--and piece together most of the important details from our collective memories.
And it could be very interesting later on to have this permanent history available. At a reunion, persons A and B, even if they forgot some of the memories they shared together in, they could look back in the database and be reminded of their shared memories. And just the reminder that there was this shared experience might be enough to jog back to memory even more details! Ah the reminiscing that will follow! Good times!
[edit] Features
[edit] Searching
Obviously.
[edit] Display
For each journal entry, it might be neat to have it show who was there (rather than just tell who was there with some dry list): either a stylized icon for each person, or (probably better) a thumbnail photo of that person.
[edit] Hierarchical
A week-long (or month-long, or weekend) trip, for example, would have one entry to describe the trip as a whole (not to mention those events for which you don't remember what specific day something happened on ... trust me, this happens). But it would also contain children entries: probably one for each day.
[edit] Allow "entries" from other sources
[edit] E-mail/[Thunderbird (category)]
Sometimes an e-mail would make good content for a journal entry. It might be a personal letter to/from a friend or some official letter (congratulations, etc.) or an announcement about some event. Rather than having to manually duplicate all the information from the e-mail, you would be able to select an e-mail, click a button, and have it imported into the journal, using the timestamp and other metadata from the message.
Instead of manually reproducing the information from the nice informative e-mail/announcement post in your journal entry, why not instead keep it (the original) as a sort of "memento" and then link to it from your journal (it could be transcluded inline...). Then your journal entry could be as simple as "Went to this: __".
[edit] Photos
Should be merged into the journal timeline automatically. Photos database
[edit] Phone call history/log
.
[edit] Other journals/logs
Like a running log, health log, etc.
[edit] To do
- Import from F:\Documents\Personal DB\Personal DB.mdb.
[edit] Article meta
Aliases: Journal
[edit] See also
Intersects with these projects: Content management system/Sedgewik, Photos database
