Character-Set: UTF-8WELCOME to the H-Public listserv! You have joined an international online community of people with an interest in the practice and theory of public history. We hope you will find this a valuable resource and will join in discussion and sharing of information as the spirit moves you.
Please read and save this welcome message. It contains useful information about managing your subscription to H-Public. If you are new to this kind of communication, you will also find guidelines below about listserv �netiquette� and the basic use of online discussion lists.
WHO RUNS H-PUBLIC?
There are three answers to this question.
1) H-Net, a project based at Michigan State University which supports and coordinates an interdisciplinary, international network of online discussion, reviews, and announcements 2) the National Council on Public History, an organization currently based at Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis, created in 1980 to encourage a broader interest in history and to bring together people, institutions, agencies, businesses, and academic programs with an interest in the field of public history 3) you, our subscribers and list members.
We might use a public history analogy to clarify how this all works.
Imagine H-Public as a party, open to the public, being held at a historic house. H-Net is the non-profit entity that actually owns the property (in fact, they are the stewards of more than 160 such properties, in the form of more than 160 discussion lists like this one). In this role, H-Net has certain rules and regulations that those using the premises must abide by. Thus H-Public is bound by H-Net�s bylaws, while benefiting from its expertise and infrastructure. Periodically we may send you appeals for financial donations to H-Net, and we hope that if you find this discussion list useful, you will consider supporting it in this way.
H-Net's home page is at:
The full text of H-Net's bylaws can be found at:
In our party analogy, the National Council on Public History (NCPH) is the sponsoring organization planning and running the party. H-Public was created in 1994 by the NCPH, which remains its sponsor. In this role, NCPH takes responsibility for providing someone to play the music and serve the food--that is, to edit and oversee the list. Editors serve a two-year term; currently, the list editors are Debbie Ann Doyle and Cathy Stanton. Our advisory board members represent a range of experiences and perspectives within the field of public history; a list of our advisory board members can be found via our homepage, http://www.h-net.org/~public/.You can read more about NCPH and public history at the NCPH homepage:
Finally, like all parties, this one is run to a large extent by the people who show up--that is, you and other H-Public subscribers. Your participation, in the form of posting announcements or questions, responding to messages on topics of interest to you, or just being a regular reader of the list, helps to make this party happen. We hope you'll be as active a participant as you wish. You are always welcome to bring questions, concerns, or ideas about H-Public to the editor and advisory board.
WHAT IS PUBLIC HISTORY?
That's a $64,000 question. Public history is an extremely varied and dynamic field whose boundaries are very hard to define. People in the field include museum professionals, government historians, corporate and business historians, historical consultants, genealogists, park rangers, archivists, teachers, cultural resource managers, curators, film and media producers, oral historians, policy advisors, professors and students with public history interests, and many others. In general, some academic training in history and some professional practice that involves history are common threads for public historians--but there are exceptions to that, too! If you have an interest in the public practice of history in any of its myriad forms, you are welcome on H-Public.
HOW TO USE H-PUBLIC
A listserv, for those who may not be familiar with this form of communication, is basically an electronic mailing list. The editor sends out messages to everyone on the list at once, which is basically the equivalent of doing a bulk mailing but without anyone having to fold pages or seal envelopes.
On some listservs, anyone can send a message and it goes straight to everyone on the list. H-Public, like many listservs, is a moderated list. All messages go first to the editor, who acts as a kind of clearing-house and front-line arbiter about what is appropriate to post (see below for ideas about what *is* appropriate). The editor also collects information from other lists and sources, such as H-Net's regular Job Guide and Academic Announcement listings.
To send a message to the list, just send an email to:
That's it. We'll take it from there.
An important feature of listservs is that you can opt to have them delivered in "digest" form rather than as individual messages. Currently, H-Public messages go out in one or two batches per week, meaning that you will receive perhaps four to eight messages from H-Public in your email box once or twice each week. If you don't want to receive that many individual messages, you can choose to change your settings to "digest" rather than "regular." The digest format puts all the messages together into one mega-message, with an index at the beginning to show you what you're getting.
Another useful feature is that you can turn off your H-Public mail if you're going to be away from your email for some time and don't want your mailbox filling up.
To make either of these changes to your subscription, go to our homepage:
Click on "Manage Subscription." This will take you to a web page where you can change your preferences about how you are receiving H-Public. You can also use this page to change the email address to which the list is sent, or to unsubscribe from the list.
If you want to look at archived messages from H-Public or go back to a discussion that caught your eye in the past, you'll find a link to "Discussion Logs" on the H-Public homepage. You can search for messages by month or topic using this feature.
WHAT GETS POSTED ON H-PUBLIC?
Messages to the H-Public list should relate in some way to the practice of history in public--that is, to the profession or avocation of "doing history." Other lists are better places for discussing historial content; we exist to support discussion about the "practice" aspect of history. A query about information on slaveholding practices in the American south, or an announcement about a new exhibit at your museum, would more appropriately be sent to lists devoted to the specific historical topics. (For example, the slaveholding query might be addressed to H-Slavery or H-South. You can find a link to a listing of all the H-Net discussion lists from the H-Public homepage). H-Public is a more appropriate venue for posting queries about trends in the museum or policy worlds, announcements about conferences or workshops relating to the practice of history in public, etc.
Obviously there is considerable overlap between historical content and the practice of "doing history." The list editors are responsible for determining whether to post messages that fall somewhere in the overlapping areas. Since many people are swamped with email information these days, editors are guided by the desire to make the list as uncluttered, easy to read, and germane to its subscribers' core interests as possible. Editors will make every attempt to explain the rejection of any messages not posted to the list.
Except in very specific cases (for example, a new product or publication of particular interest to practicing public historians), we do not post purely commercial advertisements. We also do not allow anonymous posts--you must sign your name to your messages. For protection against viruses, attachments are not allowed on most listservs, including ours. Subscribers are asked not to forward others' emailed messages without permission or attribution (eg. if you receive an announcement of interest and want to pass it along to H-Public, make sure its original source is clear and that its author doesn't mind the message being forwarded). And finally, we encourage civil, collegial discussion, and will not post "flames" or "ad hominem" attacks on other subscribers. (Fortunately, public historians seem to be a very civil and collegial bunch, so this problem seldom arises among H-Publicans!)
H-Net's procedure for resolving disputes over list editorial practices is Article II, Section 2.20 of its bylaws, located at:
http://www.h-net.org/about/by-laws.html
IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE: H-Net considers all messages posted to its lists to be a form of publication. All contributions to H-PUBLIC fall under Art. III, Sec. 3.01-3.08 of the H-Net Council Policies concerning copyright and intellectual property:
"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 grants to H-Public and H-Net permission to store, disseminate with full attribution, and make available to subscribers such submissions without further permission. Postings to the list may be quoted under the rules pertaining to "fair use" by critics, scholars, or others.
CONTACTING H-PUBLIC OR NCPH FOR MORE INFORMATION
For a list of the current editors and advisory board, visit: http:www.h-net.org/~public
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