Mind Mapping Tools
A mind map consists of words, thoughts, projects and additional items to produce, visualize, structure and classify thoughts by obtaining selective information to resolve problems and issues and to clarify meanings.
It consists of drawings, words, pictures, designs and other constructs related to each other in some way. The aim of mind maps is to arrive at solutions, conclusions and ideas for tasks or concepts to be explored further.
This works by considering the main "idea" or concept and "brainstorming" items, which relate to the central topic, and then further refine related items to those ideas and so on.
Other People Are Reading
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Compendium Institute
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The Compendium methodology software is intended for social sciences use. Using this tool, people cooperate and record information as they work as a group on "wicked problems." The Compendium Institute bases its product on the Issue Based Information System (IBIS). It is available on the Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
FreeMind
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FreeMind is written in Java, and therefore is portable across platforms with the run-time environment software. Export capabilities are available from the tool, and it can easily be used with other software packages. FreeMind uses the same graphic user interface on all platforms. The implication from this is that the software may look different on some platforms than on others. The FreeMind tool is available under the GNU Public License.
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Visual Understanding Environment
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The VUE tool was developed at Tufts University for the purpose of integrating teaching resources, including research activities and general learning. The tool is used for sharing digital information and organizing the information so that it is relevant to the project for which collaboration is taking place. Information is linked and networked by students using digital resources, including information contained in libraries and actual physical file systems within the university. This tool appears to take mind mapping to a new level, as it includes real world objects and information as opposed to pure theoretical concepts.
Microsoft Visio
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This is a commercial tool produced by Microsoft using vector graphics to create different kinds of diagrams, including mind maps. Visio files are in a format that can generally only be read by Windows operating systems, and there are not many programs available to use Visio on platforms such as Linux or Mac. Microsoft intended for the product originally to be part of its Office products, but this did not happen.
It is a good tool for mind mapping but is more useful when you purchase the product to acquire the overall package and create diagrams in a variety of formats.
MindManager
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The Mindjet corporation created MindManager based on the mind mapping technique used by Tony Buzan. The software can run on Windows and Mac operating systems. The software includes a filtering utility, task management, an open API (application programming interface) for developers and RSS support. It can communicate with a flash-based client, MindManager Web, so that mind maps can be created remotely or on the move.
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References
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