H-Urban is H-Net's network on Urban History.
I. The H-Urban Network: Scope, Content, Purpose
HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION
H-Urban is an international digital network. H-Urban was established in February 1993 at the University of Illinois at Chicago UIC to provide a forum for scholars of urban history and urban studies. It was the first forum created by H-NET (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), an international scholarly network that is supported in part by Michigan State University and private donations.
PURPOSE
The primary purpose of H-Urban is to enable historians and others interested in urban history and urban studies to communicate current research and research interests easily; to query and discuss new approaches, sources, methods and tools of analysis; and to comment on contemporary historiography. To accomplish these goals, H-Urban informs historians of announcements, calls for papers and conferences, awards, fellowships, reviews of books and websites, availability of new sources and archives, as well as reports on new research and teaching tools, which may include books, articles, works-in-progress, research reports, primary historical documents (e.g. model ordinances, federal/state/local reports, addresses of city officials), syllabi, bibliographies, software, datasets and multimedia publications or projects.
H-Urban’s new network format also offers opportunities for of digital collaboration utilizing built in platforms and multiple forms of media.
STAFF
H-Urban exists through the dedicated efforts of numerous volunteers who are broadly representative of the state of scholarship in urban history and urban studies. H-Urban's Advisory Board and Editorial Staff enable H-Urban to provide extensive and useful resources to the field of urban history and urban studies that strive to meet the highest standards of scholarship and professionalism.
Those who wish to join in this effort are encouraged to contact the H-Urban Editorial Staff for more information.
POSTING MESSAGES TO H-URBAN
How do I post a contribution to H-Urban?
Contributions are added via links in the Create Content menu on the H-Urban network homepage.
Who may post a contribution to H-Urban?
You do not have to be subscribed to H-Urban to post a contribution to the network.
What languages are used?
H-Urban functions in English, the working language of most of its members. In order to encourage international participation, messages and documents are accepted in French, Spanish, and German. Where possible, an English summary of a posting should be included, since translation cannot be guaranteed.
I am doing research. May I post a query asking about scholarly sources?
Queries on scholarly sources are most welcome, and, when constructed according to the policy below, have provided some of the most fruitful postings on H-Urban.
In general, all queries for sources should be accompanied by a description (about a paragraph in length) of the research that is being undertaken on the topic on which sources are requested. Such requests should include the titles of at least a couple of the "standard" sources that have been consulted using traditional bibliographical search methods. The reason for this policy is twofold: to fulfill H-Urban's policy of disseminating information on research that is underway in the international community and to discourage the use of H-Urban to take the place of basic bibliographic research.
Are all contributions posted automatically without editing?
In processing postings to the network, the List Editors examine each message or contribution before publishing it to the network, or before adding the document to an archive. The editors may alter the text to make minor grammatical and spelling corrections, to add the originator's name and address, and to ensure that the postings conform to the scholarly style and substance of H-Urban. Should the editors believe that more substantial changes are needed to achieve this goal, they may send the contribution back to the subscriber with a statement of their concerns and suggested changes. In some cases, the editors may reject a contribution without contacting the sender.
Frequently, editors add categories and tags to the subject line of a posting to aid reading and searching the posts.
H-Urban is primarily intended for the discussion and dissemination of scholarship on urban history and urban studies. In general advertisements are not permitted and will be removed from a message, or can be the cause of a post being rejected for publication to H-Urban. Educational announcements that include advertising content may be edited.
Further, H-Urban cannot and should not promote political causes, nor advocate on behalf of particular political interests, except where those impact directly on the scholarly pursuits of subscribers or on the future of H-Urban itself. Therefore, H-Urban will not post messages or documents which seek to promote specific political campaigns or particular political interests.
Ad hominems, unattributed quotations or innuendo, private messages forwarded for posting without permission, or contributions that violate the norms of civility and professional courtesy will be rejected. Persistent violators can be removed from the subscription list.
Any other guidelines I should follow in my messages?
The default editorial style for H-Urban is a scholarly conversation -- less formal and structured than an article, but more formal than unsupported statements of opinion or casual chats among colleagues well versed in the topic (although *occasionally* these are appropriate). The audience for H-Urban ranges from graduate students to senior scholars, and H-Urban functions to educate as well as to encourage collaboration and consultation. Thus, H-Urban welcomes references to scholarly books and articles within messages, and, if the author of the posting has time, to a brief statement about how the book fits into the discussion (although this is not required).
Because H-Urban is an international network, those who post are also encouraged to explicitly solicit feedback on their topic in an international context, rather than focusing on practices within a particular nation. This is not always possible, but it facilitates comparison too often lacking in discussions focused on a single nation.
All contributions to H-Urban must include name, institution, and, if possible, department.
The H-Urban editors will delay posting until authorship and email address are confirmed. If you are an independent scholar, feel free to include a note to the editors indicating whether you would like that indicated, or just include your name in the posting..
Who has the copyright to content posted to H-Urban?
H-Urban supports fair access to and fair use of digital materials, and seeks to balance the rights of intellectual property holders with the informational and instructional needs of students, scholars, libraries, and the informed public.
H-Urban considers posting to H-Urban (as contrasted with private e-mail correspondence) to be a form of publication.
- Original Messages: Although authors of messages posted to H-Urban retain the copyright for those messages, sending a message for posting will constitute permission to H-NET and to H-Urban and its subscribers for electronic distribution and downloading for nonprofit educational purposes with proper attribution to the author, the originating list, and the date of original posting. Original messages to H-Urban are not in the public domain, and may not be used for other than educational, nonprofit purposes without the permission of the copyright holder and notification to H-NET.
- Commissioned works: Unless otherwise indicated, book reviews, essays, and multimedia materials commissioned by H-Urban are copyrighted by H-NET. H-NET permits the redistribution and reprinting of these materials for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, location, date of publication, H-Urban, and H-NET: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the H-NET Executive Director.
- Copyrighted Works: Consistent with the objective of encouraging creativity in scholarship and education, contributors are encouraged to transmit copyrighted works to or through H-Urban, with the express permission of the copyright holder or in accordance with the fair use provisions of copyright law.
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REVIEWS
H-Urban publishes peer-reviews of books and multimedia, which it commissions. Reviews are posted to the H-Urban network and archived on the H-NET Reviews website, which has powerful search tools.
Go to H-Urban Reviews for a list of only H-Urban reviews published to date. H-Urban welcomes recommendations of books and software to review, and encourages scholars to volunteer to review books.
TEACHING CENTER
One goal of H-Urban is to promote dissemination of information on the methods of teaching history to graduate and undergraduate students in diverse settings. With that in mind, the H-Urban Teaching Center provides urban-related syllabi, instructor comments, articles, outlines, handouts, and guides to term papers, as well as encourages discussions of pedagogy in urban history and urban studies.
II. Editors.
H-Urban is edited by field experts approved by the network board and certified by H-Net’s Executive Council. The editors serve two-year renewable terms and rotate their duties. Editors are listed in the Network Staff List linked from the network’s front page. The editors will solicit postings through the Commons, will approve new subscriptions, will handle routine inquiries, and manage submissions. Anyone with suggestions about what H-Urban can and might do is invited to send in ideas by writing to the editorial address. The editors will solicit and post newsletter-type information (calls for conferences, for example, or listings of sessions at conventions.) Like all H-Net networks, H-Urban is moderated to edit out material that, in the editors' opinion, is not germane to the network mission, involves technical matters (such as subscription management requests), is inflammatory, or violates evolving, yet common, standards of Internet etiquette. Please read section III below for details about ownership, style, formatting, and content of your messages. H-Net's procedure for resolving disputes over editorial practices is Article II, Section 2.02 of our council policies, located at:
http://www.h-net.org/about/policies.php
For a list of current editors, visit: https://networks.h-net.org/node/22277/staffpage
III. Communicating Through the Network.
A. Copyright notice. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. H-Net considers all messages posted to its forums to be a form of publication. Unless otherwise arranged with H-Net, all contributions to H-Urban are subject to H-Net’s Terms of Use and its policies concerning copyright and intellectual property, Art. III, Sec. 3.01-3.08 of the H-Net Council Policies. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of H-Net's terms of use. Users of the site verify that they are authorized by copyright holders to submit content to H-Net for publication according to those terms of use, including the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License linked here http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/. Unless otherwise indicated, reviews commissioned by H-Net and published under its imprint are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
A full copy of the H-Net Council Policies and Bylaws and other important information may be found at: http://www.h-net.org/about/.
B. Contributions: The tone and content of H-Urban depends 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, many of whom must pay for their access to the internet. A number of excellent guides to online behavior and style are available on the internet and we invite you consult them.
-- ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NETWORK MUST BE SIGNED. If your profile on the H-Net Commons is not filled out with a valid name and affiliation the editors will delay posting until authorship and email address are confirmed.
-- CONTENT: Editors retain the right to review material for its pertinence, tone, style, and relevance to the network's mission. Ad hominems, unattributed quotations or innuendo, private messages forwarded for posting without permission, or messages that violate the norms of civility and professional courtesy will be rejected. Persistent violators can be removed as subscribers to the network. H-Net permanently archives its content on the H-Net Commons. Do not submit material that you consider to be of a private nature or that you would not want available to future readers.
-- STYLE: the default editorial style for discussion postings is that of a letter to the editor. Your remarks can be crafted to suit the tone of an existing discussion thread, but in any case they should address the editor and not make direct personal references to others, except where you are replying directly to a simple query (e.g., "you can find this information in Webster's Third International Dictionary."). Avoid excessive quotation of messages you refer or reply to.
-- FORMAT: While you can submit your posts to the Commons using various fonts, styles and formatting these may be edited by the editor for uniformity and readability.
IV. Technical Information.
When you subscribe to the Commons, H-Net will send you a confirmation message containing important information about managing your subscription. For online help with your subscription see http://networks.h-net.org/help-desk, especially the “Getting Started” section. These guides will help you modify your notifications, unsubscribe from the network, change the e-mail address associated with your profile, and use your “My H-Net” page effectively. If you still have questions after reading the guides please email help@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
V. The H-Urban Network Site
The H-Urban network site contains the following required information and services:
- The archives of the H-Urban network discussions and other uploaded content
- The network's official documents: its about page, 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 networks.
VI. Advisory Board.
H-Urban'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 network 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-Urban.
For a list of the current advisory board, visit: https://networks.h-net.org/node/22277/staffpage
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, egalitarian 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 Council Policies and Bylaws, along with a list of its officers and committees, is available at: http://www.h-net.org/about/
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 http://www.h-net.org/reviews.
- Job guide postings: at regular intervals, H-Net offers employment information in a broad array of fields in the humanities and social sciences. https://www.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://www.h-net.org/announce
CONTACTING H-NET FOR MORE INFORMATION:
E-mail: help@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Postal mail:
H-Net
506 East Circle Drive
141H Old Horticulture
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