[DCRM-L] records for stolen materials

[Matthew C. Haugen]

Thank you for the helpful advice; I think this will help me bolster the
case to keep these records unsuppressed. I realize I should have shared an
example to assist with discussion. Here is one of the records in question:

https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/17016716

I've updated the item status to Missing, and added an additional note in
the holdings record, since this displays more prominently in the info box
on the right, compared to the bib record note that gets lost in the rest of
the record display on the left.

The link to request the item from Special Collections (via Aeon) still
functions, and I don't know a way to turn that off without having our
systems department reconfigure it on their end. So, I hope the note and the
"Missing" icon are enough of a warning and deterrent against fruitless
requests or visits.

Matthew

On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 3:01 AM Karen Attar via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
wrote:

> The message from the British Association of Antiquarian Booksellers is
> most emphatically yes, to keep the items visible on the OPAC. It really
> helps if a warning bell goes off in a bookseller’s head. I’d make the
> current location “missing”,
> ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart
> This Message Is From an External Sender
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>
> The message from the British Association of Antiquarian Booksellers is
> most emphatically yes, to keep the items visible on the OPAC. It really
> helps if a warning bell goes off in a bookseller’s head.
>
>
>
> I’d make the current location “missing”, in order to scream out at people
> – don’t just rely on a note in the bib record, where there will be lots of
> other information and the record of theft won’t stand out.
>
>
>
> Good luck!
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
>
> Dr Karen Attar
>
> Curator of Rare Books and University Art
>
> Senate House Library, University of London
>
> Senate House
>
> Malet St
>
> London WC1E 7HU
>
> Tel. 020 7862 8472
>
> Dr Karen Attar | School of Advanced Study (sas.ac.uk)
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://research.sas.ac.uk/search/fellow/516/dr-karen-attar/__;!!BDUfV1Et5lrpZQ!TXvH4dIlZ2Z0jmisAPBbRNnbql9RZ994tznlB1MAs6EKBRBp1jKBgw1-Kym8AIpyaLHl0HQ8dVifHiNkhvQHvIYltQ$>
>
>
>
> *From:* DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> *On Behalf Of *Matthew C.
> Haugen via DCRM-L
> *Sent:* 18 May 2026 22:39
> *To:* DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
> *Cc:* Matthew C. Haugen <matthew.haugen at columbia.edu>
> *Subject:* [DCRM-L] records for stolen materials
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> In the course of a broader review of our records for manuscripts, I notice
> we have a handful of records in our online catalog for some of the
> manuscripts we know to have been stolen
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/08/us/manuscript-mystery-22-rare-works-vanish-from-columbia.html__;!!BDUfV1Et5lrpZQ!TXvH4dIlZ2Z0jmisAPBbRNnbql9RZ994tznlB1MAs6EKBRBp1jKBgw1-Kym8AIpyaLHl0HQ8dVifHiNkhvQKYJ6CNg$> in
> 1994, and not (yet🤞) recovered. For missing items from general
> collections, we normally also suppress the record from the OPAC until such
> time as it is reinstated or replaced.
>
>
>
> It seems these thefts were reported to ABAA and ExLibris-L
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1300/J111v38n01_10?needAccess=true__;!!BDUfV1Et5lrpZQ!TXvH4dIlZ2Z0jmisAPBbRNnbql9RZ994tznlB1MAs6EKBRBp1jKBgw1-Kym8AIpyaLHl0HQ8dVifHiNkhvTHBOWpBw$>at
> the time, and that the broadcasting of the theft did help
> with identification and recovery of some of the materials by dealers.
>
>
>
> For the ones still missing, does it also make sense to keep these records
> visible in our OPAC, even though the material can't actually be found or
> used? The records have notes "Stolen from Columbia University Rare Book and
> Manuscript Library in 1994" and I think continuing to display the records
> could similarly aid in identification/recovery, and also for the sake of
> potential users who find descriptions of these MSS in secondary sources, so
> they know that we don't in fact have the materials (as opposed to them
> simply being uncataloged or unfindable in the OPAC), so they don't waste
> their time and money coming to consult something we don't have. For the
> moment, these records misleadingly show up in the OPAC as requestable by
> users, but I'm trying to fix that. Or, we could suppress the records. For
> context, we're on the FOLIO ILS, with a Blacklight-based OPAC interface.
>
>
>
> Do others have an institutional practice for deciding whether to display
> or suppress records for missing or stolen materials?
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
>
> Matthew
>
>
>
> --
>
> Matthew C. Haugen
> Rare Book Cataloger | Columbia University Libraries
> matthew.haugen at columbia.edu | 212-851-2451 | he/they
> <https://universitylife.columbia.edu/pronouns>
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-- 
Matthew C. Haugen
Rare Book Cataloger | Columbia University Libraries
matthew.haugen at columbia.edu | 212-851-2451 | he/they
<https://universitylife.columbia.edu/pronouns>
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