Technology for Everyone . . .*
Mind Mapping Complex Information**
Diane Murley***
Ms. Murley introduces mind mapping as a technique for handling complex
information, discusses its application to some functions of law librarians, and
lists some of the software that can be used to create mind maps.
¶1 As law librarians, we regularly work with large amounts of complex informa-
tion that we must ultimately present in a linear fashion, such as an article, a report,
or a presentation. In this article, I will introduce the concept of mind mapping,
explain the technique generally, discuss how it might help law librarians, and list
some of the software available to help you create mind maps.
Definition
¶2 Mind mapping is one of several similar techniques developed by learning
researchers in the 1960s. Mind maps are a nonlinear visual outline of complex
information that can aid creativity, organization, productivity, and memory. Mind
maps graphically show ideas in a relational context, with the main topic at the
center of the map, major subtopics on branches radiating from the main topic, and
sub-subtopics around each subtopic, etc. You can create mind maps with paper and
pens or with one of several computer applications.
History
¶3 Mind mapping was popularized by Tony Buzan, who has written extensively
on maximizing one’s mental skills, increasing memory, and accelerating learning.1
Buzan has degrees in psychology, mathematics, English, and the general sciences.
Thanks to computer applications, mind mapping has evolved into such a power-
* Editor’s Note: Commencing with this issue, “Technology for Everyone” will become a regular feature
of Law Library Journal. In each article, author Diane Murley will review a tool that can help law
librarians do their jobs even better.
** © Diane Murley, 2007.
*** Reference/Web Services Librarian, Southern Illinois University School of Law Library, Carbondale,
Illinois.
1. See, e.g., Tony Buzan & Barry Buzan, The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to
Maximize Your Brain’s Untapped Potential (reprint ed., 1996).
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ful tool for teachers, learners, and organizations that it has been called the “Swiss
Army Knife of the Brain.”
Advantages
¶4 Mind maps offer several advantages over traditional outlines and presentations.
The radiating design keeps the main topic or idea central, with all its major subtopics close to it. Similarly, sub-subtopics stay close to their topics. This arrangement
keeps the big picture in focus and makes relationships and connections easier to see.
¶5 Because mind mapping is more flexible than outlining, it encourages
creativity. Displaying all related topics on the same mind map, with emphasis
and connections indicated by images, symbols, and colors, improves memory
retention. The maps are also easier to understand, which saves time and increases
productivity.
Technique
¶6 To make a mind map, take a large sheet of white paper and turn it lengthwise,
that is, in a landscape orientation. Using pens in multiple colors and varying thicknesses, write the main topic or idea in the center, preferably using an image to aid
memory. Place subtopics or chapter headings on thick branches radiating from the
main topic; place sub-subtopics on thinner lines radiating from each subtopic or
chapter heading. Use images, symbols, and color codes where possible to indicate emphasis and associations. You can see a variety of hand-drawn mind-map
examples on the Illumine Training Web site (www.mind-mapping.co.uk/mind
-maps-examples.htm).
¶7 There are also a number of software packages that can be used to create
mind maps on a computer. I will discuss those later in this article.2 But first, let’s
look at some of the ways mind maps can help librarians do their many jobs. The
mind maps shown below were created using MindManager software.
Uses for Librarians
¶8 Mind mapping has many uses for law librarians, including teaching and other
presentations, researching and writing, brainstorming, and project planning and
management.
Teaching and Other Presentations
¶9 Whenever we teach or make a presentation, we want our audience to understand
and remember the information that we present. Mind maps can be used instead
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2. See infra ¶¶ 25–30.
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of, or in addition to, PowerPoint and other presentations to provide a big-picture
overview, connect the big picture to the small details, show relationships across
subtopics, and make the whole presentation easier to remember.
¶10 Using one of the computer applications discussed later, you can use mind
mapping to graphically organize and present complex information in teaching
or other presentations. During class, you can start with the map completely contracted, thereby offering a broad overview. For example, at the beginning of a class
on secondary sources, the map might look like this:
¶11 Then, as the class discussion progresses, you can expand the branches to
add complexity3 or contract them to return to a more general level before expanding another branch. Or you can leave all branches expanded so that, at the end of
the class on secondary sources, the map looks like this:
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3. See Mindjet, Improve Results with Mindjet MindManager: Improve Teaching Quality 1, http://www
.mindjet.com/pdf/eng/usecases/MindManager_Improveteaching.pdf (last visited Oct. 1, 2006).
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¶12 The mind map’s main topic and the relationships of the major subtopics
remain visible, or easily retrievable, so that the context is always present. Professor
Jerry Kang of the UCLA School of Law modifies his class mind maps on the fly
to capture his dialog with the students, to manipulate and reorganize ideas, and
to “manage the big picture and the small details.”4 At the end of class, he exports
the map to html and posts it on the class Web site.5 If you saw Kang speak at the
second plenary session of the 2005 AALL Annual Meeting in San Antonio, you
saw what an effective presentation tool mind mapping can be.6
¶13 Multiple mind maps can be combined into a single map and linked to
other maps, photographs, tables and charts, Web sites, and any other electronic
file. At the Oregon Health and Science University, two dentistry professors use
mind maps to help students learn and remember complex information. Professor
Ron Sakaguchi gives his students a map of each lecture’s objectives and content,
which he also summarizes into a single map before exams.7
¶14 Mind maps can help teachers accommodate different learning styles. They
are especially helpful for strong visual learners who absorb information better
when it is presented via diagrams and similar visual aids than through written text,
but all learners benefit from absorbing information in more than one modality.8
Visual presentations of complex information also help right-hemisphere-dominant
students, who may “have problems organizing, can get lost in details, or may be
unable to distinguish between key ideas and tangential information.”9
¶15 Mind maps also help students see connections between prior knowledge
and new information,10 which helps them “transfer” what they learn and apply it to
new situations.11 For example, a semester-long legal research class may cover many
types of primary and secondary authority, which the students will need to integrate
into a research plan. A transitional mind map, as the class moves from enacted law
to common law, might show the connections and relationships like this:
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4. Id. at 2.
5. Id.
6. For an example of Kang’s use of mind mapping, see Mindjet, Case Study: Professor Jerry Kang,
UCLA, http://www.mindjet.com/pdf/us/case_studies/Mindjet_UCLA_US.pdf (last visited Oct. 1,
2006).
7. Mindjet, Case Study: Oregon Health and Science University 1, http://www.mindjet.com/pdf/us/
case_studies/Mindjet_Oregon_HSU_US.pdf (last visited Oct. 1, 2006).
8. M.H. Sam Jacobson, Learning Styles and Lawyering: Using Learning Theory to Organize Thinking
and Writing, 2 J. Ass’n Legal Writing Directors 27, 34–37 (2004).
9. Id. at 48.
10. Mindjet, Case Study: Professor Michael F. Ruffini 1, http://www.mindjet.com/pdf/us/case_studies/
Mindjet_ProfMRuffini_US.pdf (last visited Oct. 1, 2006).
11. Laurel Currie Oates, I Know that I Taught Them How to Do That, 7 Legal Writing 1, 6–10 (2001).
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Additional examples of mind maps used for teaching legal research in the lawyering skills classes at Southern Illinois University are available on the school’s law
library Web site (www.law.siu.edu/lawlib/mindmaps/legalresearch.htm).
Researching and Writing
¶16 When researching and writing, the author must integrate complex information
from a large number of sources into a single linear document, such as an article,
brief, or report. The research and writing process may take place over weeks or
months, during which time the author is subjected to many distractions. Mind
maps can help a writer stay focused on the big picture while retrieving and organizing large amounts of information into a coherent document.
¶17 Although notecards or a word-processing document can help keep track of
research, they have their limitations in terms of the amount of information they can
efficiently handle. Even an outline of fewer than ten pages can become unwieldy
as the author struggles to keep an eye on the big picture and to make connections
between different parts of the outline. Mind maps can help with three parts of the
writing process in particular: outlining and organizing, researching and taking
notes, and analyzing and writing.
¶18 Visual outlining tools, such as mind maps, diagrams, and flowcharts, can
help writers organize their ideas and establish the analytical framework for a
complex document.12 Visual outlines are particularly helpful for right-hemispheredominant thinkers, because they help the writer visualize the spatial relationships
between ideas.13 Mind maps also use icons and color coding to help organize and
prioritize information.14 Mind mapping allows the researcher to visualize and
manage complex information, see interrelationships between sources, and “navigate between details and the big picture.”15
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12.
13.
14.
15.
Jacobson, supra note 8, at 49–55.
Id. at 52–53.
Id. at 54–55.
Mindjet, Improve Results with Mindjet MindManager: Draft and Write Presentations, Speeches and
Reports 2 (quoting Professor Jerry Kang, UCLA School of Law), http://www.mindjet.com/pdf/eng/
usecases/MindManager_WriteReports.pdf (last visited Oct. 1, 2006).
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¶19 A mind map can be used to organize notes while researching a particular
project or just while reading systematically in your field.16 If you are working on
a project that you have already outlined, add your research notes to the outline.
If you are reading materials in your area of interest before you have outlined a
particular project, use mind mapping as a brainstorming tool.17 As the “knowledge
map” of research grows, it gradually captures the big picture.18 And the process of
mapping the research can simultaneously create the document’s structure.19
¶20 Finally, mind mapping can help with analysis and writing. When you reach
the point in your research that you are ready to begin writing, a quick look at your
map will show you what reorganization your outline needs. You may have one
overloaded branch that needs to be divided into two topics. You may have several
single-keyword branches that can be combined or added to other topics.
¶21 I also find it helpful to return to my mind map when I reach a sticking
point while writing. Sometimes just looking at where I am in the context of the big
picture is enough to get me unstuck. Sometimes I realize that the problem is with
that part of the outline, so I just move the subtopics around until their order makes
more sense, and I am ready to continue writing.
¶22 Because of their visual nature, mind maps can help the writer see connections and additional points that might otherwise be missed.20 And, by keeping the
entire outline in front of the writer at the same time, mind maps also help the writer
avoid missing steps or issues necessary to the discussion.21 With a well-analyzed
outline and well-organized research, the writer can produce a better document in
less time and with fewer drafts, significantly increasing productivity.22
Brainstorming
¶23 Mind mapping is a good technique for group brainstorming because ideas
can be captured as they are suggested, without worrying about where they fit in
a hierarchy. Once all the ideas have been captured, they can be grouped and prioritized.23 The visual presentation makes it easy to see links among ideas. With
mind-mapping software, organizing a brainstorming mind map is a simple dragand-drop operation.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
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See id.
Id. at 1.
Id. at 2.
Mindjet, Case Study: Ankush Chopra, Ph.D. Candidate, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
2, http://www.mindjet.com/pdf/us/case_studies/Mindjet_AnkushChopra_US.pdf (last visited Oct. 1,
2006) [hereinafter Chopra Case Study].
Dennis Kennedy, An Introduction to Mind Mapping (Oct. 26, 2005), DennisKennedy.com, http://
www.denniskennedy.com/archives/2005_10.html#a000893.
Id.
Chopra Case Study, supra note 19, at 1–2.
Mindjet, Mindjet MindManager: Bridging the Gap between Enterprise Information, Business
Processes, and Team Collaboration 3–5 (2006).
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Project Planning and Management
¶24 Because mind maps can help you capture ideas; organize, prioritize, and visu-
alize complex information; work with both the big picture and the details; and
quickly see potential connections and the need for additional information, they can
make project planning more productive.24 For more complex project management,
a variety of computer programs are available. If the project plan has been created
using the MindManager software discussed below, it can be exported and synchronized with Microsoft Project or an alternative project management program.
MindManager also integrates with Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.25
Software
¶25 There are a number of mind-mapping programs available. I am most familiar
with Mindjet’s MindManager because I have been using it for about a year. I will
discuss the features of MindManager with which I am familiar; briefly review an
open source alternative, FreeMind; and tell you where to find other mind-mapping
software options.
MindManager
¶26 I originally discovered Mindjet’s MindManager in October 2005 when, as a
speaker for BlawgThink 2005, I received a free one-year license and some training. I have been using MindManager for teaching and other presentations since
that time. I only started using it for research and writing this past summer, but it has
made a huge difference in the time it takes me to produce a decent first draft.26
¶27 MindManager has many templates and options from which to choose, as
well as a library of icons, images, map markers, and other visual cues that can be
added to the maps. You can also add your own images and link to other maps, Web
sites, spreadsheets, and electronic files. You can work in map or outline view, and
there is a brainstorming tool. The presentation mode can be used as an alternative
to PowerPoint. MindManager also works with a tablet PC.
¶28 MindManager can import from Microsoft Word, Outlook, or Project. It
can also export maps to a zipped file; PDF; several image formats; several Web
page layouts; MS Outlook task, Word, PowerPoint, or Project; and MPX format
for project management software. Maps can also be e-mailed as attachments or in
read-only format for review. More information about MindManager (as well as
the capacity to download a free trial) is available from the Mindjet Web site (www
.mindjet.com/us).
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24. See Mindjet, Mindjet MindManager: A Vital Solution for Improved Project Management
(2006).
25. See David March, Software for Real People [3] ( 2005), available at http://www.mindjet.com/pdf
_eng/Mindjet_Software_4_real_people.pdf .
26. See infra Appendix for a portion of the mind map I used for this article. The +s indicate more subtopics.
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FreeMind
¶29 FreeMind is open-source mind-mapping software, freely available from the
FreeMind Web site (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page).
Although it doesn’t have all the features of MindManager, it does an acceptable
job of creating mind maps, which can be exported to PDF, JPG, PNG, HTML, and
XHTML.27
Other Options
¶30 You can learn more about mind mapping, including other mind-mapping soft-
ware options, at the MindMap Software Web site (www.mindmap-software.com).
Conclusion
¶31 Mind mapping is a technique for visually organizing and working with
information. It can aid creativity, organization, productivity, and memory. Mind
mapping can help law librarians capture ideas; organize, prioritize, and visualize
complex information; work with both the big picture and the details; and quickly
see potential connections and the need for additional information. It is useful for
any project involving large amounts of information, including teaching and other
presentations, researching and writing, brainstorming, and project planning and
management. You can create mind maps with a piece of paper and several pens,
commercial software such as MindManager, or open source software such as
FreeMind.
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27. Eric W. Kistler, Mapping Your Mind with Open Source Software, Connecting . . ., Dec. 2005, at 13.
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Appendix: Mind Map Used in Writing This Article
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