Drawing from recent case studies, including that of Barry Landau, this poster argues, that understanding and preventing the illicit removal of historical treasures from public access should take a more central role in collection policy discussion. Institutions stand to loose hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in disappeared inventory, and the value of lost research potential is immeasurable. As library professionals we have to ask what is happening, why, and how can we limit the risks in order to safeguard collections for future generations.
Implementing and practicing security without jeopardizing the core principles of openness within our profession is an exciting challenge. Motivations and methods of external and internal thefts are examined. Collection management policies of libraries and archives that have been victimized are reviewed. Issues such as prevention, access vs. protection, realistic security measures, reporting theft, and publicity are explored in the context of actual cases.