Review & Discovery

A wide selection of journal tools and capabilities can be used to review and examine any idea or passing interest. You can find and review specific information, or you can just follow your muse. Besides being interesting and entertaining, browsing and reviewing your journal can provide an insightful retrospective of your life and thoughts.

In contrast to Searches and Queries which are "goal" oriented, browsing is "discovery" oriented. You browse to discover insights, patterns, and trends―to uncover and explore aspects of your life. Aspects that become obvious only when scattered journal information is pulled together in a Virtual View.

When Browsing you know generally what you want to discover, but are free to follow new threads and directions wherever your browsing reveals new paths. For example, you Search for Aunt Mary's birth date, but you Browse the entries about birthday parties for Aunt Mary or, to see (in order) when each of your cousins turns 21. Also, Browsing and Review differs from Navigation. Navigation provides "maps" to the information that you may want to Search or Review.

To review important aspects of your life. you can begin with a basic Query and switch to Browse mode. You can start a browsing session using words, dates, topics, categories, or areas of interest. This is useful when you only have a general idea about what you want to review and want to refine and redirect your browsing along the way. As you find interesting information, you can reference the Predictive Browser, the Knowledge Tree, and the Association Map. These tools track the subject matter and context of your browsing session and are ready with ideas for where to look next―and, how you might want to compare, associate, contrast, and view the fruits of your browsing.

Since your journal information is indexed, grouped, filtered, and understood based only on your worldview, the context and direction of your browsing session is understood. You can browse from one entry, thought, or date and have Now & Then automatically organize your results―packaged and formatted relevant to your current focused interest.

Review and Discovery can be rewarding. The Predictive Browser can suggest related concepts or areas of interest and nudge your browsing paths in new and insightful directions. A nudge or suggestion can release new streams of thought and provide associations that lead to interesting insights, discoveries, or epiphanies. Based on the contextual and conceptual focus of your browsing,  Now & Then "mines" your journal information from multiple perspectives―discovering previously hidden associations, patterns, and concepts.

Discovery & Insight, Predictive Browser

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