I have had a few discussions about knots that would have been imposible without a bit of string. If the names of knots are hard in English, they are harder when talking across borders and even so when talking with people from an other craft disipline. And when you have a set of traditional names, a set of poorly translated names and on top of that the knots for which you can not remember the name in the language you are talking, (or they may not have a name in that language) a visible aid is indispensible.
The web is very friendly for interlanguage knot discussions, we can show the knots, either in photos, drawings or even animated form. So we all talk about the same knot. ABOK numbers only work if the other has a copy of ABOK, in whatever translation, if we get that database working we can simply link, direct to or quote that bit of web in whatever shape the discussion takes.
I knew about the quipu the inca used, but as far as I know the position of a knot is as important / or more important than the actual knot. But the information I have is sketchy at best.
It is very interesting to learn that there are other knot records, with their meaning, saved for the future.
Willeke