CERL Annual Seminar 2013

STOP THIEF! Preventing and Investigating Theft from Collections in the Digital Age

Organized by: CERL with the University Library in Warsaw, Poland and the CERL Security Network

Speaker(s): Allan Vestergaard,Bogdan Zerek,Cristina Dondi,Denis Bruckmann,Edwin Schroeder,Ewa Kobierska-Maciuszko,Ewa Potrzebnicka,Gianpietro Romano,Giles Mandelbrote,Jolanta Talbierska,Judith Barnes,Kristian Jensen,Marian Lefferts,Marianna Czapnik,Richard Šípek

The 2013 seminar was co-organised with the University Library in Warsaw, Poland and the CERL Security Network. The title was ‘Stop Thief! Preventing and Investigating Theft from Collections in the Digital Age’.

Our physical collections exist in a digital age, as do their users, the librarians who help users to gain access to them, and the thieves who want to steal and, perhaps, hope to sell their ill-gotten gains. Our seminar sought through case studies to address how this affects the way in which we may detect, investigate or prevent theft from our collections.

Programme

– 9.00-9.30: Registration
– 9.30-9.45: Opening & Welcome, Jolanta Talbierska (Director, the University of Warsaw Library), Tomasz Makowski (Director, the National Library of Poland) and Ulf Göranson (Chairman, CERL)

SESSION 1

CHAIR: Kristian Jensen (Chair, CERL Collection Security Network)

– 9.45-10.10: Paper 1 – Giles Mandelbrote (Librarian, Lambeth Palace Library, London): Returned after 40 years: stolen books from Lambeth Palace Library
– 10.10-10.35: Paper 2 – Gianpietro Romano (Commander of the Antiques Section, Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Italian Carabinieri, Rome): The role and experiences of the Carabinieri for the protection of physical collections of rare and antique books
– 10.35-10.45: Questions
– 10.45-11.15: COFFEE

SESSION 2

CHAIR: Marian Lefferts (Executive Manager, CERL)

– 11.15-11.35: Paper 3 – Edwin Schroeder (Director, Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale, New Haven): Who’s “Smiley”-ing now? Map thefts in the U.S.
– 11.35-11.55: Paper 4 – Judith Barnes (Collection Security Coordinator, the British Library, London): Map theft – deter and detect
– 11.55-12.20: Paper 5 – Allan Vestergaard, (Danish National Archives, Copenhagen): Theft from the Danish National Archives. Handling public reactions
– 12.20-12.30: Questions
– 12.30-14.00: LUNCH (+ visit of the University Library)

SESSION 3

CHAIR: Ewa Kobierska-Maciuszko (former Director, the University of Warsaw Library)

– 14.00-14.25: Paper 6 – Ewa Potrzebnicka (Deputy Director for Preservation and Access) and Bogdan Zerek (Deputy Head of the Department-Laboratory for Conservation, the National Library of Poland, Warsaw): The Early Printed Books Preservation School in the National Library of Poland. Preventing theft of special collections objects – a conservator’s approach
– 14.25-14.50: Paper 7 – Marianna Czapnik (Early Imprints Department, the University of Warsaw Library): Books ownership evidence and their significance in the protection of collections against theft
– 14.50-15.15: Paper 8 – Richard Šípek, National Museum, Prague: PROVENIO: Book Provenance Database – Provenance Record as an
Identification Mark
– 15.15-15.30: Questions
– 15.30-16.00: COFFEE

SESSION 4

CHAIR: Cristina Dondi (Secretary, CERL)

– 16.00-16.25: Paper 9 – Denis Bruckmann (Deputy Director General, Director of Collections, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris): The “Hebrew Manuscript 52 affair” and what we learnt from it
– 16.25-16.50: Paper 10 – Kristian Jensen (Head of Arts and Humanities, the British Library, London): The use of physical evidence and digital resources in the investigation of the thefts at the British Library committed by Mr Farhad Hakimzadeh
– 16.50-17.05: Questions
– 17.05-17.10: Close: Kristian Jensen

Related resources

EVENT INFORMATION

University of Warsaw Library

Location: Warsaw - Poland
Event date: October 29, 2013

LINKS AND DOWNLOADS

The University of Warsaw Library website

Programme

EVENTS