So, I edit dissertations for a living. The Really Big in-depth book-length research project a person does to earn themselves a Ph.D. (and no, I don't have one of those). The big thing about delving deeply into a project is that you set off with your inquiry, and start by researching your set and setting: who else has thought about this? What have they come up with? and after all that, which might actually be the bulk of a work, you tell how you're going to go about your piece of the puzzle, and show what you did and what you conclude, other questions for future players in the field, and voila, you've added to the Great Conversation.

I also muck about in various fiber arts. I weave, and have made baskets, and know how to do all manner of braiding and fingerweaving (it pays to have grown up with a Serious fiber artist/weaver, and to get to look over her shoulder and try out things at home that she was studying and teaching in the MN weaver's guild), I've been a crocheter since my grandma taught me at the age of 5 or 6, -- and I'm finally learning to knit! That last part is pretty well equally to blame on the good example of my dearling Lise, and the knitting podcasty goodness of Brenda Dayne and our own Violet and her pal Lime.

There's a movement afoot, a grand scheme voice most recently by Brenda Dayne of the Cast-On podcast, to assemble a great library of knitting (and perhaps other fiber arts?) knowledge in a collaborative archival project on the web. This is great - and much discussion and thought about whether to go add in to the knitting sections on Wikipedia, where things might be more in-depth than the Wikipedia really wants to be; whether to deepen the offerings at the Wikia KnitWiki, only these are both currently governed not by a creative commons license deed, which grants some rights to your own copyright work, but by a GNU free document license - which places works into the public domain (as near as I can tell).
A decision was made to go with a creative commons licensed wiki, and one has been set up on a knitting fan's own website, which I'll call Sarah's KnitWiki

All of which endeavors are fine and glorious, and with the popularity of theme podcasts, there are a lot of excited people ready to turn their expertise to co-creation.

My only hesitation, nay concern, is that the new folks coming along aren't doing their "set and setting" background research deeply enough. Why on earth are folks just beginning to re-create the wheel, gathering yarn shop info, for example, when there's been knitting talk online since the days of Fido-net, and places like Wool Works, that compiles all manner of information folks have been collecting since way before 1994, when Emily Way took it to this new format of an html website? Hello, there's already well over 13 years worth (more like 18 years' worth) of already-gathered info here.

I'd love to get, or at least see, the active folks involved in these various projects, talking with one another, and not getting lost each in her own ivory tower. The gifts each person involved in such a project are huge and heartwarming, and like an individual's dissertation, another piece of the puzzle, and an addition to the Great Conversation. We have this great global set o' tools, and can gather and share info; collaborate on a global (for values of "global" that include "online" at least); it would be nice to have the broadest conversation and not repeat/reinvent ourselves so often, even if we can't and maybe don't need to all agree on the copyright status / licensing structure.

Good heavens, after all, there's not even a comprehensive listing of fiber arts guilds in North America. Goethe's Law notwithstanding, it'd be fun to try.