My technichally proficient friends, does this software exist?

[Grand Inquisitor]

I'm looking for two different tools:


1) Both professionally and personally I have a number of large scale projects which involve a heavy amount of systematic organization, research, and evaluation.

I'm looking for a tool that will allow me to organize my thoughts and keep track of a large amount of information in a digital setting.  I'm imagining something akin to wikipedia's structure of layers of related abstractions connected by hyperlink (this wouldn't have to be internet based).

Does anyone know if software exists for this sort of conceptual organization (to someone who doesn't code)?


2) I have a large library of music files I'm trying to sort, and I find iTunes, etc woefully inadequate for the task of cataloging them, and then having something that can be querried into playlists later.  The best option I've seen so far has been later incarnations of MusicMatch.  Does anyone have anything better?

Thanks for taking a look.

[Machinus]

For your first problem, look into "mind mapping" software. That may be helpful to you.

[Bram]

Id you want to keep track of literature concerning your research, Reference Manager is the way to go. You basically enter whatever you read (Author, title, date. publication, whatever you want, even if it was a documentary you watched) and assign short summaries and/or keywords. You can search for stuff based on said keywords, which may be useful.

[Sylvester]

There's also EndNote in the reference gathering/searching area. There are several personal wiki system that run stand alone, only on your computer. Several of them can also work off usb sticks on public computers.