[CPProt.net] Yale map heist stirs University concern

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Yale map heist stirs University concern

Ross Liemer
Princetonian Staff Writer

    Following a foiled theft of maps from the Beinecke Rare Book library at
Yale, Princeton librarians said they are committed to preventing similar
crimes here but declined to specify whether anything might be missing from
University collections.

    The thwarted heist, by map dealer E. Forbes Smiley III, was reported by
The New York Times last week. Security video showed Smiley slicing a map
worth $150,000 out of a book. When he was searched, more maps, valued at
over $700,000, were found in his jacket and briefcase. University librarians
said they were notified of the incident soon after it occurred last spring.

    "Curators in this country use email to contact each other about these
incidents, so there is a regular, standing system of communication," said
Princeton Curator of Rare Books Stephen Ferguson. "I believe I knew about
the Smiley case when it broke in June."

    Ben Primer, associate university librarian for rare books and special
collections, said that once the story broke, colleagues from several
institutions other than Yale informed Primer of visits by Smiley to their
facilities.

    In addition to alerts from informal and formal networks of curators, the
FBI notified libraries across the country about the Smiley theft. Library
officials here declined to say whether the University received an FBI
notification.

    An FBI alert posted to online message boards said, "In the aftermath of
the arrest, the FBI has been in contact with certain other rare book
libraries and learned that those institutions are finding rare maps missing
from volumes that Smiley had viewed."

    University librarians declined to say whether logs and call slips show
that Smiley visited or accessed holdings of the Department of Rare Books and
Special Collections, which maintains reading rooms within Firestone Library
and the Mudd Manuscript Library.

    Collection security is a primary concern of librarians and curators
everywhere, Primer said. He declined to elaborate on University safeguards,
concerned that the details could be exploited by would-be thieves.

    "Having been in the Army and in military intelligence, I am always
reluctant to reveal sensitive information that could be used by an
adversary," Primer said.

    Paul Needham, librarian of the Scheide Library, a privately owned
collection housed within Firestone, was similarly reluctant to discuss
specific security measures. The Gutenberg Bible, medieval texts, original
Beethoven sheet music and other valuable items in the private Scheide
collection are kept apart from the rare books owned by the University,
Needham said.

    "The room is within the general security alarm system of the library,"
he added.

    Librarians store rare materials in several large vaults in Firestone,
but they are still vulnerable to unscrupulous staff, Primer said.

    "Everyone knows that your principal concern is not people coming in, but
internal sorts of problems," he explained.

    But the University still takes precautions against theft of rare books
by researchers.

    No bags or coats are allowed in the reading rooms. All readers must
register, describe their research and present photo identification - though
impeccable credentials are no guarantee of integrity, Primer said.

    "You have to assume in this business that anyone could be a criminal.
The more credentials they have, the more knowledge they have, so they know
what is valuable. A researcher with more credentials is almost more
dangerous," Primer said.

    Needham did not share Primer's view of a positive correlation between
expertise and risk.

    "In a way, I think people's credentials are irrelevant. Some people are
dishonest and most people are not. I am not convinced that this correlates
in any way whatsoever with education or knowledge of commercial values,"
Needham said.

    Professors, dealers, students and staff merit equal suspicion, he added.

    The risk of theft will never vanish, Primer said, but the Library hopes
it will decrease over time as more documents and finding aids are made
available via print, microfilm and digital surrogates.

    "We have done everything that we believe that we ought to be doing in
terms of security, and we're making incremental improvements all the time,"
Primer said. 

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