Habsburg Guidelines for Queries and Posts

Your editors encourage subscribers to submit thoughtful queries that are of general interest. One of the best uses of a scholarly list is to provide an opportunity for scholars to develop contacts with other people working in their specific fields, and to facilitate assistance with research problems or pedagogical issues easier. In this interest HABSBURG has adopted the following guidelines for queries, which we hope will facilitate more frequent and efficient use of HABSBURG as a research and teaching tool. We stress that they are not meant to reflect judgment on any individual queries that the editors have received and either posted or not posted. These guidelines are meant only for queries that seek research and teaching assistance and not for other types of HABSBURG posts such as reaction to reviews or relevant issues that members may feel moved to post.

HABSBURG is a scholarly community of over 1,000 members worldwide who bring to this network a range of interests and expectations. Since we are all busy professionals, the editors try, as a primary goal, to ensure each message's utility to the maximum number of members. Conversely, we try to avoid postings that will be of limited interest or which could even bother or alienate subscribers.

For this reason, we would like to state our policy on queries:

  1. Habsburg monarchy and their successor states
    All queries should concern research or teaching problems in Habsburg and East European history up to and including areas where Habsburg influence was either geographically limited, like Poland, Ukraine, and Romania, or largely indirect through broader policy concerns, like Bulgaria or Greece. For that reason we will accept queries in any language of the region. The HABSBURG editors are all competent in English and German and queries in those languages will be posted in their original language. For other languages we may ask for translation assistance from appropriate list-members.
     
  2. Backgroud Enquires
    Queries should be sent only after readily available sources of information have been tried. Each query should list those sources already tried that have failed to produce the information sought. Among other things, this will save the valuable time of subscribers, who will otherwise respond with suggestions one has already considered. It is also a courtesy to your colleagues both to spare them overly elementary queries, and to share with us where you looked first before resorting to the list. Simple bibliographic queries will not be posted unless there is an indication of what sources have been tried or there is a request for titles which have worked well as course readings.
     
  3. informative in nature
    All queries should be informative in nature. Provide background information so that HABSBURG members who know little about the topic can still benefit from the discussion. If, for example, you need the address of an institution and haven't found it in the obvious places, try telling the membership exactly what service the institution performs. If you need bibliographic information, explain the context of the problem for which you need additional reading. If you need teaching materials, explain the problem that you are trying to deal with in the classroom and the methods you have tried so far.
     
  4. Comprehensive queries
    Longer queries are better; short queries are likely to be returned to their authors for more background information so that the entire network can benefit. Medieval scholars should be able to learn something from reading a query about the twentieth century era, while queries on pre-modern topics should be interesting to modern history specialists. By the same token, social and cultural historians should also be able to learn from queries by diplomatic and military historians.
     
  5. Possible delay
    Queries will be posted as soon as practical, depending upon the current traffic on HABSBURG. In a particularly busy period, some queries that meet these guidelines may have to wait several days before being posted.
     
  6. Not to be distributed
    We do not post any petitions or open letters as well as book announcements, just reviews of books. 
     
  7. Job Postings
    Only job postings which have been already posted by H-Net Job Guide will be distributed by us. As proof of submission please provide the invoice of H-Net Job Guide along with the job post and send it to editorial-habsburg@mail.h-net.msu.edu. On how to submit a job to H-Net Job Guide, please refer to the H-Net Job Guide Policy
     
  8. Your suggestions for revisions of this policy are welcome.

For further tips on how to submit and create a post click here.

Your HABSBURG Editors