A novel tool for personal knowledge management

Using spreadsheets for data management has become largely widespread as they permit users to perform data management tasks “personally” i.e. without programming or other specialized skills. But as the data size and conceptual complexity grow, spreadsheets hit their limits and the only other way to go is toward the slow and complex database applications development. We introduce a tool, the Personal Knowledge Manager (PKM), which aims at extending the limits of what can be done without specialized skills. PKM draws on concepts from ontology editors but tries to stay as close as possible to the world of spreadsheets in order to capitalize on their widespread skills and experiences.