Character-Set: UTF-8WELCOME TO THE H-AFRESEARCH NETWORK!
PLEASE READ AND SAVE THIS MESSAGE.

This welcome message is designed to provide you with basic information about this network. It contains information on using the list (managing your subscription; tips on contacting and communicating via the list; mailing addresses of the list editors; a list of the current editorial board); information about the network's associated service on the World Wide Web; and contact information about the network's parent, H-Net.

I. The H-AFRESEARCH Network: Scope, Content, Purpose.

H-Afresearch is devoted to the discussion of issues surrounding the use of primary sources in African humanities and social sciences research. Primary sources are defined broadly to include traditional archival records, manuscripts and personal papers; photograph and film collections; field notes, oral data and music collections; and material culture and artifacts. The network seeks to build bridges between two main audiences: African Studies researchers and primary source repository professionals, be they archivists, librarians, documentalists, or museum curators. Focusing on the research process will allow researchers to get informed responses to practical questions, from both other researchers and the caretakers of the raw materials of research--in Africa or outside the continent.

The subject matter that the editors envision for this network would interest both researchers and information professionals. Researchers would come to this network to query list subscribers regarding issues in locating sources on particular topics, identifying other researchers with experience in those sources, and obtain practical tips and up-to-date information on the use of specific collections. In addition, researchers could raise broader methodological issues arising from working with primary source materials in all their various formats.

Repository professionals, especially in Africa, benefit from participation in the network because it allows them to publicize their institutions and services, inform the research community of additions and changes in their holdings, and alert them to funding needs that researchers and northern repository professionals ***may be able to assist them with through their own grant writing and institutional affiliations. As Internet connectivity increases, we anticipate a steadily growing African involvement in the network and will work actively to promote this participation.

II. Editors.

The editors serve two-year renewable
terms, with the approval of the H-Net Executive Committee and rotate their duties. The current editor will be identified in all messages coming from the list. The editors will solicit postings (by email, phone and even by regular mail), will assist people in managing subscriptions and setting up options, will handle routine inquiries, and will consolidate some postings. Anyone with suggestions about what H-AFRESEARCH can and might do is invited to send in ideas. The editors will solicit and post newsletter-type information (calls for conferences, for example, or listings of sessions at conventions.) They will also commission book and article reviews, and post book announcements from publishers. H-AFRESEARCH will be moderated to filter out extraneous messages (like requests for subscription) and items that do not belong on H-AFRESEARCH. They may belong somewhere else, or in the judgment of the editors they do not aid the scholarly dialogue. The editors will not alter the meaning of messages without the author's permission. H-Net's procedure for resolving disputes over list editorial practices is Article II, Section 2.20 of our council policies located at:

http://h-net.org/about/policies.php

A list of the editors can be found at: http://www.h-net.org/~afrsrch/

III. Communicating Through the List.

A. Copyright notice. All contributions to H-AFRESEARCH fall under the H-Net Council Policies' sections covering copyright: "[Art. III,Secs. 3.01 to 3.08]: "H-Net is a nonprofit communications service intended to advance the teaching, research, and service of scholars, educators, and students. Preserving copyright rights is a collective responsibility: H-Net users and editors must respect the intellectual property of others. Consistent with the objective of encouraging creativity in scholarship and education, editors and users are encouraged to transmit copyrighted works to or through H-Net, with the express permission of the copyright holder or in accordance with the fair use provisions of copyright law. H-Net considers posting to H-Net lists or Web, as contrasted with private e-mail correspondence, to be a form of publication." In general, the author retains copyright rights to publication of any submission to the list, and H-AFRESEARCH and H-Net retain the right to store, disseminate with full attribution, and make available to subscribers such submissions. Postings (such as H-net book reviews) that are commissioned by H-AFRESEARCH or H-net are copyrighted by H-Net and available for redistribution under "fair use" provisions of applicable United States copyright law. A full copy of the H-Net charter and other important information may be found on the World Wide Web at: http://h-net.org/about/.

B. Technical Information. When you subscribe, LISTSERV will send you a confirmation message containing important information about managing your subscription. You are encouraged to save this message as a text file for future reference. ALL changes to your subscription must be addressed to listserv@h-net.msu.edu, the software that manages the distribution and archiving of list electronic mail.

1.) TO SUBSCRIBE: send this email message to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

sub H-AFRESEARCH your name, institution
Example: sub H-AFRESEARCH Jane Smith, Illinois State U.

Follow the instructions in the reply that LISTSERV will send you in response to this command.

2.) To unsubscribe, logon to the computer account from which you subscribed to the list, and send this message to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

SIGNOFF H-AFRESEARCH

Please unsubscribe from H-AFRESEARCH and all other mailing lists if you are terminating a particular computer account. You can then resubscribe from the new account.

3.) To send your own message to all subscribers, send an email note directly to H-AFRESEARCH@h-net.msu.edu. Please see "C." below on style and formatting of messages to the list.

4.) To REPLY to a message so that all subscribers can read it, be sure that the outgoing reply is directed to H-AFRESEARCH@h-net.msu.edu, and not to the original author or to the editor. Replies intended only for individual authors should be sent directly to the author.

5.) If you are away for an extended period, suspend H-AFRESEARCH email by sending this to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

SET H-AFRESEARCH NOMAIL

6.) After vacation, you can resume by sending to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

SET H-AFRESEARCH MAIL

7.) If you prefer to receive one daily digest of all posts to H-AFRESEARCH instead of various individual posts, you can do so by sending this to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

SET H-AFRESEARCH DIGEST

To return to individual messages, send the following message:

SET H-AFRESEARCH NODIGEST

C. Contributions: "Netiquette." The tone and content of H-AFRESEARCH depend directly on subscribers. The editors want to encourage lively, informal, productive discussion and exchange of information. To that end, we ask that contributions be considerate of the needs of a busy audience of scholars, some of whom must pay for their access to the internet. Please sign all mail to the list -- the editors will delay posting until authorship is confirmed. The list also strictly enforces a "no flame" rule: ad hominems, unattributed quotations or innuendo, or messages that violate the norms of civility and professional courtesy will be rejected. Persistent violators can be removed from the subscription list.

IV. The H-AFRESEARCH Site on the World Wide Web

In addition to providing interactive communications via electronic mail, H-AFRESEARCH also maintains a site on the World Wide Web. The site is located on the H-Net server at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. It may be located by following the hypertext links at http://h-net.org.The H-AFRESEARCH web site contains the following information and services:

� The archives of the H-AFRESEARCH list, known as its "logs." They are in searchable and sortable format.
� The network's official documents: its welcome files, lists of board members and editors, contact information, and other founding and information documents.
� Hypertext links to resources in our subject: teaching materials, research archives, other lists.

V. Advisory Board.

H-AFRESEARCH's daily activities are managed by the editors. Its long-term policies are developed by the advisory board. If you are interested in serving on the board, please contact the current editor. Board members referee incoming articles, reviews, and teaching materials; establish basic subscription restrictions and policy; advise the editors on disputes among editors and subscribers; monitor the list and make active contributions to discussion; and serve as the subscribers' voice in H-Net affairs. You are encouraged to contact any or all of the editorial board members with ideas and concerns about H-AFRESEARCH.

For a list of the current advisory board, visit: http://www.h-net.org/~afrsrch

VII. Our Parent Organization: H-Net

H-Net is an international consortium of scholars in the humanities and social sciences that creates and coordinates electronic networks, using a variety of media, and with a common objective of advancing humanities and social science teaching and research. H-Net was created to provide a positive, supportive, equalitarian environment for the friendly exchange of ideas and scholarly resources.

The goals of H-NET networks are to enable scholars to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to share information on electronic databases; and to test new ideas and share comments on the literature in their fields.

H-Net's Bylaws and Council Policies, along with a list of its officers and committees, is available at:
http://www.h-net.org/about/policies.php

Among H-Net's many services are:

� Book and software reviews: timely, exhaustive, authoritative, professional, fast. Mailed through our lists and stored in searchable, printable, retrievable format on our site at the World Wide Web.

� Job guide postings: at regular intervals, H-Net offers employment information in a broad array of fields in the humanities and social sciences at: https://h-net.org/jobs/home.php

� H-Net calendar: announcements of conferences, papers, and professional activities, archived and searchable at our web site. You can visit our site and sample these and other services, at: http://h-net.org

CONTACTING H-NET FOR MORE INFORMATION

On the World Wide Web: http://www.h-net.org Electronic mail: help@mail.h-net.msu.edu

Postal mail:

H-Net
141h Old Horticulture
506 East Circle Drive
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-5134
Fax: (517) 884-6994

Executive Director: Prof. Peter Knupfer
Michigan State University
E-Mail: peter@mail.h-net.msu.edu

Associate Director: Heather Hawley
Michigan State University
E-Mail: hawley@mail.h-net.msu.edu

END