A map of content is a [method](https://notes.linkingyourthinking.com/Umami/MOCs+Overview) of organizing notes into a general sketch that allows new ideas to be connected to an overall theme. It is a means of connecting notes across themes, summarizing detailed notes into general terms, and managing the [[anxiety]] that tends to form with chaotic processes. The strategy for using an MOC is to abstract ideas from the context in which they’re encountered and break-up knowledge into digestable chunks. They are useful because they can essentially be moved anywhere in the directory structure, allowing established relationships to continue to be discoverable while maintaining a directory that others can navigate logically, connecting directly to relevant notes and indirectly to other maps. In Dolores, an MOC takes the form of either a note or a canvas, depending on how the idea is developing. Note-MOCs provide a degree of linearity and are helpful for historical or hierarchical topics, they might be thought of as outlines. Canvas-MOCs provide more freedom for different arrangements of notes and are therefore useful for visualizing relationships. A **sprouting** MOC serves as a collection point for all ideas related to its content. A **fruiting** MOC serves as a summary and outline to direct one toward notes needing further development or when one needs a slight refreshment on concepts. Each map links to individual [[principle of atomicity|atomic notes]]. These are ideas distilled into single, coherent summaries of thought. In the spirit of [[The Spatial Nature of Knowledge]], an MOC is a navigational tool providing direction from very general to very specific ideas. It serves as an [[affordance]] for an [[integrated thinking environment]]. As a result, creating an MOC can be considered a form of progressive summarization.