LT„Istoriko atsakomybė" - vieniems šie žodžiai skamba banaliai, kitiems pernelyg skambiai, tačiau mums, vienaip ar kitaip susijusiems su istorijos mokslu, tai tiesiog paprasta, aktualu ir sudėtinga. Šie klausimai dažnai aptariami, bet, deja, retai analizuojami. „Istoriko atsakomybė", derėtų pridurti ir „visuomenės atsakomybė", nes viena be kito neegzistuoja, tai dalykai, kurių analizė pirmiausia turėtų paskatinti savirefleksijai mus pačius, istorikus; pabandyti padaryti viską, ką mūsų sąžinė, kaip pasakytų Pierras Abelardas, laiko esant teisinga ir privaloma. Taigi pirmiausia pasimokyti patiems, o ne mokyti kitus. Istoriko atsakomybės klausimams aptarti Vilniaus pedagoginio universiteto Istorijos fakultete 2001 m. spalio 18 d. vyko mokslinė konferencija „Istoriko atsakomybė". Darbas vyko trijose sekcijose - „Istorija ir šiuolaikinė kultūra", „Istoriko atsakomybė ir istorijos didaktika" bei „Šiuolaikinė istoriografija ir istorijos vertinimas". Plenariniame ir sekcijų posėdžiuose buvo perskaityta keliasdešimt pranešimų, kurių pagrindu parengti straipsniai skelbiami šiame rinkinyje. Sudarytojai laikėsi nuostatos skelbti visus pateiktus pranešimus, nors ne visi jie vienodai tiksliai atitinka konferencijos tematiką. Straipsniai, pateikti rusų ir lenkų kalbomis, nekoreguoti. Šiuo leidiniu tęsiama tradicija skelbti Vilniaus pedagoginio universiteto Istorijos fakulteto Visuotinės istorijos katedros organizuojamų mokslinių konferencijų medžiagą (p. 5).
ENOn 18 October 2001 the scientific conference "Responsibility of Historian" was held at the Faculty of History, Vilnius Pedagogical University. During the plenary session participants delivered two presentations. Prof. Juozas Algimantas Krištopaitis gave a presentation on the Challenges of the Information Civilisation to the Historical Consciousness of the Nation. Associate Professor J. Norkus made a report on the History of Culture and Modern Cultural Historiography. After that participants of the conference made presentations and held discussions in three sections. Nine presentations were given in the section "History and Modern Culture". Dr. Nelė Asadauskienė analysed the influence of cherishing a genealogical concept in the family on the knowledge, interest and understanding of history. Master students Jolanta Baranauskaitė and Ramunė Kasperavičiūtė discussed usage of historical facts in various films. Associate Professor Romas Batura analysed the influence of works of present-day Lithuanian historians on formation of the national values. Dr. Sandra Grigaravičiūtė showed a problematic approach to the responsibility of historians with regard to establishment of the authorship of political decisions adopted in the past. Dr. Romas Juzefovičius discussed possibilities of historians of forming sets and norms of values in society. Associate Professor Aivas Ragauskas analysed usage of historical subjects in modern industries and advertising. Associate Professor Leonas Šnipas elaborated on the problems connected with the content of history and its influence on formation of the national consciousness. Associate Professor Edvardas Krikščiūnas discussed the importance of truth, moral and patriotic principles in scientific researches. Dr. Irena Šutinienė made a speech on how different political regimes affected interpretation of personal biographies.The section "Modern Historiography and Assessment of History" was opened by Professor Aldona Gaigalaitė. In her presentation she strongly criticised those historians who after the National Revival in the last decade of the 20th century had started wantonly by young scientist Dr. Povilas Lasinskas on the problems of historians in the 4lh decade of the 20th century led to heated discussions. In his report Dr. Artūras Grickevičius asked a loaded question (in a good sense) related to the responsibility of historians: "Are the historians doing enough to influence public consciousness?" Dr. Juozas Skirius tried to draw participants' attention to insufficient attempts at researching historiography of historical problems, especially evident among younger researchers, which help to highlight new problems and previously unnoticed questions. Historian Audronė Janužytė discussed a specific research publication-related issue "Past, Present and Vision of the History Magazine". In his presentation Žydrūnas Mačiukas elaborated on how time affected the positions of historians and contradictions among them, the great number of unanswered questions to be answered by foreign historiography and sources. The section "Responsibility of Historians and Historical Didactics" included twelve presentations. Associate Professor of Kaliningrad State University N. Nikulina, Associate Professor of Vilnius Pedagogical University S. Stašaitis and teacher E. Paškevičiūtė discussed assessment of history textbooks. Professor of Wroclaw University G. Panko spoke about the responsibility of didactic historians for preparation of future teachers of history.Teachers N. Leončiuk and S. Sargsjan from Daugavpils as well as Doctorate student of the History Didactics Department D. Bylaitė (a teacher of history) discussed specific issues related to teaching history in high schools- Associate Professor N. Pachalina from Kaliningrad and Dr. V. Raudys from Klaipėda University elaborated on the issues connected with teaching of the social science and civic society basics. Associate Professor V. Nikulin from Kaliningrad University analysed a role of the academic adviser in writing of students' theses. Teacher V. Porutienė voiced the school-leavers' opinion on the state examination in history. Content and arrangement-related issues in connection with the state examination in history were especially popular among participants and caused most of discussions as a similar type of the examination in history is planned to be introduced in both Poland and Russia and in those countries this issue has recently been under wide-ranging discussions. The key issue in Lithuania has been improvement of the examination's content and this was a subject to share with participants of the conference.