Knowledge is empowerment. This is applicable to each and every field- including textiles. Whether you are a textile industrialist, a textile student or a textile researcher, you need to have knowledge about textile. However, knowledge has many branches. Some information may be essential from economic, social or technical perspective, while others might be apt for artistic, cultural, historical or political purposes. So what type of knowledge is required for, say, a textile manufacturer or a textile retailer or even a textile collector or a student?

Textile Processes: Anyone who is into making or studying of textiles, must know the basic textile processes. These include processes such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, knitting etc. involved in making basic textile materials such as fibers, yarns & threads, fabrics & apparels etc. In fact, it includes all the processes in the whole journey of fiber to garment. Apart from basic processes, there are advanced textile processes too that needs to be known, depending upon individual requirements. What is required by a textile student doing research on fibers may be different from the requirement of a textile manufacturer producing a technical textile.

Market Reports, Reviews and Trends: Textile manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, dealers etc. are the part of textile products supply chain. They need to know about technologies, lifestyles, markets, products, prices, competitors, supply/value chains, strategies, business models etc. for taking sound business decisions. The key to success lies in the willingness and capability to adapt and grow in sync with the environment.

Academic Reports: As the market reports are essential for textile traders, academic reports- regarding different facets of textile- are important for textile students and researchers. These reports equip them for their successful future. Academically sound information is also important for others who are interested in textile in other ways such as for textile artists, collectors of various historical or antique textile etc. In fact they might be interested in other academic documents telling about different facts of textile for ex. important textile personalities.

Other Helping Tools: In today's highly specialized environment, information only about textile will not do. Textile traders work globally now. A garment manufacturer may make clothes in a country having summer season but his target consumers may be situated in a country experiencing winters. So he must know the temperature over there. Further, average length and weight of population differ from country to country. Different countries use different weights too, like kilograms and pounds. So, textile traders must also have knowledge about weight, length, temperature and such other conversions. However, access to tools like conversion calculators make their task easier.

There are many ways to access knowledge. There are books, journals, magazines, newsletters, and other textile publications. Then there are several textile organizations and associations who facilitate dissemination and exchange of information through seminars and conferences. Further, many textile specific websites have well built up knowledge center that give all textile related informations. It's all upto you, which media you choose to access information as per your requirement. For more Read