Introduction¶

I am looking for an alternative resource sharing tool to share all sorts of resources (from cars to seeds, couches to skills, etc.), as the one technical implementation whopools.net I know of is sort of dead (it´s buggy, without development, user-unfriendly). I thought Crabgrass could help, without the imminent need to produce a new software tool, as it contains already all technical aspects on a very low level.

Please feel free to comment or ask for editing permissions.

Questions in the preface¶

1. Is there already a working CG-group/network for sharing all sorts of resources?
2. Is there some other resource sharing plattform, which is working, user-friendly and contains a critical mass of peers?
3. Is there a necessity to bring about some new impulse?
4. What organisational structure could this network have?
5. more to come

General Concept¶

• the resource sharing network should be open to any CG member, therefore a critical mass of users and resources is potentially already existent
• it should be more about connecting individuals than groups, as a sharing contract can be agreed on more easily, if the number of involved peers is not more than two; this also solves the problem of deflected responsibility: people may borrow something on behalf of a group, but they stay the responsible person in terms of the concluded agreement
• groups or committees could be organised either geographically or on a subject level, maybe even both

How could it work?¶

• a member creates at least two wiki pages following a certain template: one for resources it wants to share and one for resources it is in need of
  • it could be a plain list, a structured list, whatever, but all resources should generally be tagged so the document becomes searchable (as soon as full text search is implemented this becomes secondary)
• general and specific terms of use could be stated, too, so people know beforehand on what grounds sharing could take place
• more pages could be created within the specific group/committee containing either recources which are only physically available on a local level or concerning a certain subject
• the content is easily searched through the existent CG search tool, using available filters

Technical questions¶

1. Is there a difference between tags and full text based search?
2. Which membership structure is best, making resources available on the on hand (i.e. searchable) without creating informational redundancy to the individual member?
   1. If I´m part of the network/the group, how can the info on updates be held small, while giving full access to data on a search-level
3. Is there a catch? Something painfully obvious, which makes this idea total difficult/nonsensical?

Next steps¶

• Spread the word
• get people involved
  • get answers/raise more questions
  • discuss/evaluate
  • make a improved general concept
  • collectively create a network/group
• individually list resources
• share resources
• keep high-level awareness to have uptodate data and a high level of exchange
  • evaluate
  • tweak for improvements
  • implement
• go back to square 1 (bring process on the next level)

(BTW: that´s practical permaculture, not much to it, ey?)

Sandbox¶

Here the space to try different examples of informational structure. Add a wiki page, with a short explaination of your ideas behind the structure. Give instructions how this pages can be searched for specific data.

• Kardans concept