1. AboutThis month I'd like to host the Emacs Carnival! I've been an enthusiastic participant for a while now. I wrote entries for May, June, and July (that last one hosted by Andy over at Plain DrOps). Now it's my turn to hold the torch.Reading other people's carnival posts has consistently been the highlight of my month, and I find I learn a lot through this structured prompting for insight from other Emacs users.This month's topic is "The Search for Knowledge". This combines a couple of concepts that I think are near and dear to the hearts of many Emacsapiens, and have seen a recent surge in attention:Information Retrieval, or more abstractly "Search"Knowledge ManagementI'm hoping to assay the community for solutions to these complex endeavors. Emacs, in my opinion, is the world's most capable text processing environment, and so it only makes sense that it would have best-in-class solutions and workflows for managing complex information and synthesizing precious knowledge from it. There are so many solutions to these problems, and we see a veritable embarrassment of riches in Emacs along our intrepid search for knowledge. I'm hoping this carnival can crystallize some of the best solutions and workflows.Some topic ideas, but feel free to bring your own!Knowledge graphs: How much do you use the knowledge graph? Do you use the visualization or some other utility to traverse connections between the notes in your notes vault?The shape of your knowledge graph: Have you learned anything from the shape and structure of your knowledge graph? Are there salient shapes and neighborhoods in that graph that enlighten your thought process or internalized knowledge? Maybe this isn't the case, and that's also a worthwhile observation to talk about!The knowledge graph anti-pitch: I know a lot of people who don't use knowledge graphs at all, despite trying. They dump their notes into a directory and simply grep for information when they want it. Are you one of these people? Do you still get knowledge graph utility without relying on a knowledge graph solution?Emacs packages for knowledge management: There are a huge number of these inside and outside of Emacs. Which ones do you use? Are some better than others? Why? Are there models for knowledge management that work better for you than others?Information structure: How do you store your notes and information? Are you more of a few-large-files or many-tiny-files person?Information retrieval tools: How much mileage do you get out of a simple grep? Do you ever reach for something else? What is that something else?Information retrieval sources: Where does all your text come from? Is it just notes? Do you manage information coming from other file types like images, PDFs, SVGs, etc.?What's next in the knowledge management space: Do you think there are unsolved or soon-to-be-solved problems in this space? What are they? What do you wish you had now in your "search for knowledge".2. What is a carnival?See the wikipage on the topic here: Emacs Carnival.This is our first Emacs Carnival, so you may not know the format. A blog carnival is a fun way to tie together a community with shared writing prompts, and marvel at all the creative interpretations of the topic of the month. I’ve provided a couple of interpretations above, but you may think of something else entirely. That’s amazing, roll with it, that’s what makes this fun!— Christian TietzeI want to emphasize that a carnival is supposed to be fun. And I'd also like to say that if you've ever considered writing a post but haven't found the time or space, the Emacs carnival is the best way to give it a crack!3. How to take partGetting involved is easy:Write something on "The Search for Knowledge" any time during August 2026. Any format is welcome. A long essay, a short note, a screencast, or a thread on the fediverse. Pick one of the prompts above, or take the theme somewhere I haven't thought of.Send me the link by 31 August 2026. Email me at mister.chiply@gmail.com, or post it on the fediverse with #EmacsCarnival so the wider community sees it too. You can also DM me on reddit at u/misterchiply, I hang out there a lot!Watch this space. I'll add every entry to the list below as it arrives, and once the month closes I'll publish a round-up that gathers them all in one place.Don't overthink it! Even a few honest paragraphs about how you find things in your notes make a great entry.4. SubmissionsI'll keep this list updated throughout August as entries come in. Check back through the month, and look out for the round-up once the carnival closes.No submissions yet — yours could be the first!