WELCOME TO THE H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS Network: Scope, Content, Purpose.

The GAGCS network provides a moderated multi-disciplinary forum for discussion of topics relevant to German-speaking immigrants in North America from the 17th century to the present. Academic disciplines involved include history, geography, ethnic and immigration studies, linguistics, literary and cultural studies. Topics for discussion may include the invention/ transformation of ethnicity and national identities among German Americans and German Canadians, patterns of settlement, patterns of maintenance and change in language and culture, civic participation, methods of conceptualizing and understanding German identity in North America etc. The list addresses an audience of primarily academics and graduate students. We are stressing the value of comparative and cross-border ethnic studies (a diaspora approach) and the idea of cultural regions (which may straddle international borders, e.g. the Northern Great Plains). Contributions on German communities in other parts of the world (South America, Australia) may be included from time to time if they serve a comparative purpose.

We are *not* an advocacy, genealogical or heritage group. GAGCS encourages discussion of methodologies, sharing of research results, book and article reviews, information on archival sources and research funding etc. The editors will reserve the right to refuse contributions that are not relevant to the general objectives of the list; they also reserve the right to limit discussion on a subject which has been discussed extensively (we don't want to dictate what can be discussed and what can't, but in the interest of all subscribers, we realize that some discussions can go on for too long).

H-GAGCS is sponsored by the Chair in German-Canadian Studies, University of Winnipeg, Canada and the Max-Kade Institute for German-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

II. Editors.

The H-GAGCS list is edited by Lorie A. Vanchena, Associate Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, The University of Kansas, vanchena@ku.edu or vanchena@mail.h-net.msu.edu. 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-GAGCS 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.) H-GAGCS will be moderated to filter out extraneous messages (like requests for subscription) and items that do not belong on H-GAGCS. 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.

Editorial correspondence not intended for posting should be sent to:

Lorie A. Vanchena
Dept. of Germanic Languages and Literatures The University of Kansas
2090 Wescoe Hall
1445 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS 66045
vanchena@ku.edu Tel. 785.864.9176
Fax 785.864.4298

III. Communicating Through the List.

A. Copyright notice. All contributions to H-GAGCS fall under the H-Net Charter's sections covering copyright: "[Art. VI,Secs. G and H]: "H-Net respects the copyrights of authors whose material is posted on its lists and/or stored in its logs, fileservers, and gopher. Authors who post items to H-Net lists convey to H-Net only the right to electronically reproduce their work on H-Net lists and in H-Net files. H-Net owns the name of each subject-area list, its roster of subscribers, its on-line files, and its gopher and related files. All funds raised by advertisements and fees charged by the subject-area lists belong to H-Net and are under the control of the treasurer. H-Net's assertion of ownership is meant only to protect the rights of H-net and shall not infringe on the copyrights of authors regarding any files or documents they may have made available to H-Net." In general, the author retains copyright rights to publication of any submission to the list, and H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS 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://www.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-GAGCS your name, institution
Example: sub H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS

Please unsubscribe from H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS@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-GAGCS@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-GAGCS email by sending this to listserv@h-net.msu.edu:

SET H-GAGCS NOMAIL

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

SET H-GAGCS MAIL

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

SET H-GAGCS DIGEST

To return to individual messages, send the following message:

SET H-GAGCS NODIGEST

C. Contributions: "Netiquette." The tone and content of H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS Site on the World Wide Web

In addition to providing interactive communications via electronic mail, H-GAGCS 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://www.h-net.org.The H-GAGCS web site contains the following information and services:

· The archives of the H-GAGCS 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-GAGCS'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-GAGCS.

Current Advisory Board, H-GAGCS:

Heike Bungert
Institute of Anglo-American History, Historisches Seminar, University of Cologne

John Chaimov
Associate Professor, German, Coe College

Patrick Farges
Assistant Professor, German Studies, New Sorbonne University, Paris

Steven Hoelscher
Associate Professor, American Studies, University of Texas

Royden Loewen
Chair in Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg, Canada

Anke Ortlepp
Acting Director, German Historical Institute, Washington, DC

Brent Peterson
Professor and Chair of German, Lawrence University, WI

Werner Sollors
Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of English Literature and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University

VI. 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.

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.

· 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://www.h-net.org

CONTACTING H-NET FOR MORE INFORMATION

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

Postal mail:

H-Net
8A Morill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, 48824-1046
Phone: (517)432-5134
Fax: (517)353-5229

Executive Director:
Prof. Mark Kornbluh
Michigan State University
E-Mail: mark@hs1.hst.msu.edu

Associate Director:
Prof. Peter Knupfer,
Kansas State University
E-Mail: asociate@h-net.msu.edu

END