The links listed below provide a context for understanding map thefts
[though most of the information actually relates to books] and the
response to
them. If the organisations involved, with their 'guidelines'
and codes of practice, are sometimes fragmented or overlapping, such an
analysis can help to suggest where further co-ordination is needed.
Local and regional organisations need at least to be linked together
into global networks. Map theft is an international phenomenon
and the response to it must, in
future, be equally global.
Three specific points:-
This page does not deal with details of physical library security or the
exchange of information about suspects (both matters for the
institutions' security officers). Nor does it cover cataloguing practice
(necessary for providing descriptions of stolen items), though see 'Object ID'
Most of the links in the Spreading the News section
relate to books, manuscripts, art, antiques, antiquities - anything
except maps. Nor is information available about the theft of colour
plates from books, or early prints - the two directly comparable types of
material. The intention is to highlight this gap
The links are almost exclusively to English-language sites. Please send
links in other languages, and any other useful additions
Council for the Prevention of Art
Theft (COPAT) (see their 'Code of Due
Diligence for Dealers'; they also publish(ed?) the Crime &
Intelligence Digest) {NB their site - http://www.copat.co.uk -
though widely cited,
does not work at present. Established in the UK in 1992, are they still
operational?}
Repositories
of Primary Sources ("a listing of over 4900 websites describing
holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and
other primary sources for the research scholar" [May 2002]; accessible via
State, Province, Country Index - University of Idaho Library)
World Directory of Map Collections, 4th Edition, compiled and
edited by Olivier
Loiseaux on behalf of the Section of Geography and Map Libraries, of the
International Federation of Map Libraries (Munich: K G Saur Verlag, 2001). ISBN
3-598-21818-4. [IFLA Publication No. 92/93]
British and Irish Committee for Map Information and Catalogue
Systems (BRICMICS) (reports of the twice-yearly meetings are posted to
the lismaps discussion list
and printed in Cartographiti,
the newsletter of the British Cartograhic Society, Map Curators' Group -
met at Aberystwyth on 25 April 2002, with the Antiquarian Booksellers'
Association (International) in a 'Responding to Theft' seminar)
Society of American
Archivists (the Security Roundtable met at Washington, D.C. in
August 2001 to discuss
the issues arising out of the Gilbert Bland map thefts - no
report online)
[for the various Map lists see Discussion Lists - some of these include
theft reports in their archives]
Archives & Archivists. See their homepage,
with access to the Archives
ExLibris. (You must be a member to post
messages but the Archives are accessible - these include theft announcements)
Museum Security Network Mailing list. See their homepage (must be a member to post messages but the Archives are accessible - these include theft
announcements)
CLOSED LISTS (i.e. restricted to a professional group)
Library Security Officer Electronic List. Send reports to Susan
Allen, Head, Department of Special Collections, UCLA:
sallen@library.ucla.edu
Society of American Archivists. Contact: sfox@archivists.org
UK security list. Contact: Tom.Moulton@bl.uk
Legal Matters
'ACRL
Guidelines Regarding Thefts in Libraries' (Association of [American]
College and Research Libraries, 2001-2002: Appendix II 'Draft of Model
Legislation: Theft and Mutilation of Library Materials')
Library Stamps and security devices
Datatag &
Datadot ("a tiny dot type label printed with a unique code that is
linked back to the Datatag database for identification" - Healthcare
Facilities Consortium (HFC))
'Fingerprinting' documents
and packaging ('fingerprinting' the microscopic surface imperfections on almost all (e.g.)
paper documents could provide a unique signature for a single map sheet - a project led by
Russell Cowburn, Imperial College London, described in Nature 28 July 2005, Vol 436)
'ACRL
Guidelines Regarding Thefts in Libraries' (Association of [American]
College and Research Libraries, 2001-2002 - 'Section I. Preventing Library
Theft'; 'Section II. Reacting to Library Theft', January 2003)
'Library and
Archival Security Resources' (links under the following headings: Publications, Other Resources, Secret Marking
Technology, Addresses for Reporting Thefts, Disaster Preparedness - Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association
of College & Research Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association)
'The saying and the doing: the literature and reality of theft
prevention measures in U.S. Archives - Part 1'; 'The saying and the doing
- Part 2: the real world and the future'; Abigail Leab Martin in
Library & Archival Security 15:2 (2000), 27-76, 16:1 (2000),
7-46
International Antiquarian
Mapsellers Association (IAMA) (the first international organisation
specifically aimed at the antiquarian map trade, this was set up in
summer 2002; contact details are available through their site)
Object ID ("an
international standard for describing art, antiques and antiquities" -
initiated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, now hosted by the Council for the
Prevention of Art Theft (CoPAT); perhaps it could form the basis for a
specialised map version)
Theft Reports
MAPS (SPECIFICALLY)
The Missing and Stolen Maps Database was
officially launched on 27 April 2008. It is managed by the International Antiquarian Mapsellers Association (IAMA). For explanatory notes on the functioning of
the Database see the announcement to the MapHist list. I
wholeheartedly endorse the comment of Joel Kovarsky: 'we sincerely hope that librarians, dealers and collectors
will make use of this site'. Now that a mechanism has been provided that allows widespread - and it is hoped,
speedy - dissemination of news about map thefts, it is essential that all the communities involved support this
initiative wholeheartedly. It should not be too long before the first thief is caught because of this Database.
(While the following could include maps, few do so. They are
included here primarily to underline the need for a comprehensive,
dedicated map theft register)
Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of
America (ABAA) ('Stolen and Missing Books' database of material taken from dealers; you can search for 'map' in either 'Title'
or 'General Description', but neither listing is complete)
Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) ('This non-
profit organization will study issues in art crime, and work as consultants on art protection or recovery issues brought to them
by police, governments, museums, places of worship, and other public institutions')
Art Loss Register ("the
world's largest private international database of lost and stolen art,
antiques and collectibles" - NB cookies must be enabled to access the site)
Art
Theft Reports (Museum Security Network, 1996-2000 only - includes
some book thefts but none for maps)
Find Stolen Art
("developed to assist Police Forces, across the United Kingdom, in the
recovery and return of Stolen Antiques and to enable Auction Houses,
Collectors and dealers to comply with the code of Due Diligence", run by
British Reserve Insurance and Criterion Antiques and Fine Art Loss
Adjusters - searching on 'Stolen and Recovered' produced just one,
mis-described map [April 2002])
'Guide
to Databases of Stolen Art' (Tom Flynn of Trace [now Invaluable] 1998
- reproduced on the site of the Museums, Libraries and
Archives Council (MLA))
Invaluable (a London-based
organisation, which, with its Trace subsidiary "has been a leading force
in identifying stolen objects" - see 'Guide to Databases of Stolen Art'
above)
Missing Books and Manuscripts (useful range of international links
from Jonathan Sazonoff, posted to the ExLibris list in April 2001, including a large
Section 3 'Thefts by Country, and Section 5 'Maps' [links relating to Gilbert Bland])
'RBMS
Security Committee' (missing book lists from the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the
Association of College & Research Libraries - see also under 'Theft Reports' below)
Stolen
Works of Art (Interpol - a search on 'map' produced three entries
[April 2002])
Theft
Reports (annual theft reports since 1987, from the ACRL/RBMS Security
Committee - taken from the "public media and on open listservs, such as
Exlibris". Notices to Alvan Bregman: abregman@uiuc.edu)
traceit4u.com ("a
National [UK] Pictorial Database website for the Police to place onto it
their identifiable stolen/recovered property held in police stores")
Missing
Books and Manuscripts (useful range of international links from
Jonathan Sazonoff, posted to the ExLibris list in April 2001, including a
large Section 3 'Thefts by Country, and Section 5 'Maps' [links relating
to Gilbert Bland])
Museum-Security.org
(a continuing compendium of messages from Jonathan Sazonoff to
Museum Network Security)
