Melanie this is awesome... kudos to you for your work and for this endeavor. We need more of this in the world today.
1. Are there checklists for creating a new channel. I don't have a list offhand but if I were to go over a starting line with a new creator I will say you've already tapped into the most important aspects that I would cover. The things I would advise at this point are simply putting together a proper presentation. Channel banner, get a good idea of your filming/editing/graphic arts (for thumbnails) process and setup, studio and your talent if this is stuff you are going to outsource are all things to consider. In reality it takes about 100 videos for a lot of things to fall in line; this threshold gives you solid data to make educated decisions on your content, it allows you to hit a head of steam with your production schedule, it gives you a more refined understanding of the viewing habits for your target audience and it fills out your library so that you have some authority on the topic... there's just so much to be said for the value of simply having 100 videos. Make that the main focus. A lot will fall in line along the way.
2. There is a lot of value in being that super-specialized niche when you just start out. It gives you a laser-focused audience and allows you to make mistakes on videos that are "less important." By that I mean you are going to be less-discovered in your first 100 videos and you should be prepared to remake the strongest of these videos multiple times over. So starting off super-specialized is a good way to begin that routine (you can always get more general as your target audience grows). All that having been said yes, you can absolutely use other industries. At the end of the day, the answer to all your questions is the viewer. Not the audience, the subscribers etc. The viewer. That single individual who is on their break at work or resting on the couch at the end of the day and taking a moment to watch a video on their phone. You provide the necessary value to that individual and your choice will never be wrong.
3. As an education channel you do not need a reference page... but I do highly suggest doing one. I do not create educational content and I still reference where applicable. Typically this is simply including necessary links in the description of the video, so it shouldn't be that hard. A simple CTA acknowledging your list of links in the description is all the viewer needs. But that instills trust and it is the more professional way to do things, so I would advise including it.
4. I do not place videos under creative commons. Mostly. I will list footage from time to time and I have plans to release a bunch of stuff to CC for others to use should they need it. But before I did that I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything that I was ever going to need to charge for. 5 year old fishing clips, I'm ok handing that off to a creator in need. Creative Commons is basically free-to-use stock footage that other creators are allowed to use without paying royalties. I won't list my full videos as CC; I put a lot of work, resources and time into them and I want to be paid accordingly. But the raw footage I would donate to CC, especially if it is something that I can basically no longer use.
I hope that helps. If you have further questions feel free to get in touch, I would be happy to lend any insight/advice on this project.
