graphic

H-Net and the European Social Science History Conference
by Robert Cherny, President-Elect of H-Net

The European Social Science History conference met in the Hague, the Netherlands, on February 27 - March 2. H-Net was well represented. On Friday, March 1, Gus Seligmann (H-Net president), Bob Cherny (H-Net president-elect), Melanie Shell Weiss (H-Net Council member and assistant director), and Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux (H-Net Council member and chair of the International Committee) co-hosted a luncheon for those H-Net editors who were in attendance. At the business meeting, also on March 1, Gus made a presentation on behalf of H-Net, offering to be of whatever assistance might be useful during the planning for the next ESSH meeting, which will be held in Berlin in 2004. Gus represented H-Net at the meeting of the technology network, which agreed to include H-Net in its planning for the next ESSH conference.

Other H-Net participants included Leonid Borodkin, editor of H-AHC (Association for History and Computing), who serves on the ESSH advisory board and will help to plan the next two conferences, and Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux, who served as one of the organizers for the family and demography network and as a chair and discussant. Seth Wigderson, a former member of the H-Net Council, presented a paper, as did Melanie Shell Weiss; other H-Net editors and advisory board members were also present and some presented papers or served as discussants.

For more information on the conference, including photos, go to
http://www.iisg.nl/esshc/index.html.

On the final day of the conference, March 2, Gus, Bob, Melanie, and Antoinette offered a roundtable discussion on the topic, "Building Global Networks of Scholars: The Benefits and Challenges of Internationalizing H-Net." The session was well attended, and there was a lively and useful discussion about ways to increase H-Net participation by scholars outside the US.

Fauve-Chamoux began with an overview of the work of the International Committee. Cherny followed with some comments on the current extent of internationalization of H-Net and some observations on the challenges that H-Net will face in accomplishing further internationalization. Shell Weiss spoke on H-Net's efforts to bridge the digital divide, focusing on H-Net's African networks, other work in Africa, and H-Net's new publication model. Seligmann summarized some of H-Net's efforts at making online archives available to scholars at universities that are not able to afford access to existing databases.

About the Author
Robert Cherny, President-Elect of H-Net, is at San Francisco State University and is also List Editor for H-California, Advisory Board Member for H-Labor, List Editor for H-SHGAPE, Advisory Board Member for H-West.