In my days as a grad student in history at a major Midwestern university, I
was told a story by a number of my professors (one of whom was closely
involved in the incident) of a history grad student from another university
who once visited to do research and managed to steal a large number of books
and documents collections relating to his research from the library (I also
worked at the library as a student and heard the story there as well).
Apparently he did not want anyone to be able to check his research.
According to the story the only way he was caught is he had put the books
out to be collected as trash and his grandmother decided it was a shame to
throw them out and sent them to the local library instead and they were
traced down from there.  His advisor at the other university was very big in
his field and apparently prevented anything from really being done to him.
He got his PH.D. and he is now employed at a university, though not a major
one, and has published several books on history.  He came back to the
library once to do more research and was only allowed to look at books that
were brought to him in an empty room with an armed security guard watching
him.  He was also checked thoroughly when he left the room and library.
    Makes you wonder doesn't it.

Richard Durschlag, Director
Museum of the Waxhaws and Andrew Jackson Memorial
Waxhaw, NC


>From: Cheryl Maslin <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Thieves plunder libraries for profit
>Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2001 09:14:55 -0700
>
>-particularly in universities; it would seem a symptom of the
>"competition mentality" that is drummed into young people's heads, that
>the pages of the books that are torn out is to prevent their fellow
>students (competitors), from knowing what the [now] book vandal has
>found out and wants to keep for himself.
>
>- it's a form of sabotage, and unfortunately, given the emphasis on the
>elementary 3 Rs for supporting the form of capitalistic economy we now
>have (and I mean this in a very objective manner, not politically at
>this time) and the lack of emphasis on critical thinking in high school
>and undergraduate college levels, the student who detroyed books to keep
>the "competition" at bay also sabotages himself as there is now no
>evidence to back him up.

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