Thank you to all who responded to my question about marking manuscripts.  Evidently there is no consensus on this issue.  Many of you share my concern about defacing a valuable document.  But if you plan to keep it forever, is reducing the market value really important?

 

 Many of the responses were posted to the list, but a few were sent to me directly.  As requested, here is a compilation of messages with names (and institutions) removed.  We will be discussing this issue at our staff meeting this morning.  I will probably post to the list what our final decision is, if there is any interest.

 

Barbara Austen

Connecticut Historical Society Museum

 

 

1.  In a rare books class in library school, an instructor mentioned a micro stamp as a way of marking materials.  I believe they're small enough that they're not readily visible, but can be seen with magnification.  Hence, if an item of yours goes missing and shows up elsewhere, you can have it checked in a particular place for your micro mark.  I would favor this method for marking rare items, though it doesn't serve as a theft deterrent the way a more obvious mark might.

 

 

2.  Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler has some information on marking materials in her book, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts (SAA, 1993).  See p. 115.  In particular, she notes that a non-destructive method should be used, and notes that “The Library of Congress has made available a permanent, non-acidic ink specifically for the purpose of marking manuscripts.”  She advises repositories to contact the National Preservation Program Office, and ask for the ink (which as of 1993 was being provided free of charge) and a copy of a leaflet, “Marking Paper Manuscripts” (Preservation Leaflet No. 4.  Under revision at the time, so a new version may be out….)

 

 

3.  I can see the argument for marking manuscripts as a security measure.  It acts as a type of insurance in the case of theft, etc.  However, I don't particularly feel good about marking manuscripts.  Isn't it taught in library school preservation classes to use methods that are reversible?  If necessary, we use pencil to mark our manuscripts.  Isn't the manuscript itself a unique item?  In that case, there would be no need to have a unique mark or stamp, especially if you have thorough cataloging practices. 

Our archives is part of an academic library, and we do not use any permanent marks in our Rare Books, so I would be hesitant to mark our manuscripts. A few years ago we briefly considered marking the rare books, but feared that an ink that is considered acceptable now, might not be in thought safe in the future. Making a permanent mark in a book or manuscript also seems wrong. Even if we wanted to mark our manuscripts, the idea of needing to mark thousands of pages is daunting. [I do make pencil notes on papers from about the 1950s to present to indicate an approximate date, or record information that was on Post-it notes.]

If you have some item that would be highly desirable by collectors, you might consider marking it in an unobtrusive place.

 

 

4.  Here's another source.  National Park Service Conserve O Gram July 1993 Number 19/2

http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/19-02.pdf

 

"... Security Considerations Theft of rare books is an increasing problem.  The following measures can help the rare book manager protect the collection.   Make sure all rare books are properly identified and marked for ownership in pencil on the back of the title page near the binding at the bottom. ..."

 

 

5.  If an institution has rare and unique manuscripts, I would think a photocopy and digital image might serve the purpose of “proof” of ownership instead of marking the item.  I have concerns over the ink, type of mark, not to mention how you decide what to mark.  And with 700,000+ materials, you then have the question of WHAT to stamp.    Years ago, many institutions marked manuscripts on the margin or at a point that did not affect the manuscript writing, image, etc. – and what did thieves do, they trimmed those edges!

 

I’ve wondered many times the scenario of trying to prove something was yours and was stolen.   It seems to me that good cataloging data, accession data, photocopies or digital images would serve the same purpose.  But clearly I don’t have the staff to stamp every manuscript or archive item that we have.

.

 

6.  I would recommend taking a look at Gregor Trinkaus-Randall’s publication—Protecting Your Collections: A Manual for Archival Security (SAA, 1995).  I recently wrote a “Theft prevention and recovery policy” and from my research it seems clear that marking manuscripts is really a thing of the past.  I think that most archivists view it as defacement and destructive.  Here at HSWP, many of our most valuable documents, perhaps the vary ones that are the most highly collectable and marketable, are the exact pieces that are occasionally exhibited in our museum exhibitions.  Our museum staff and administration would absolutely have a cow if we intentionally altered those documents.

 

 

7.  At the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois a combination of a micro embosser and a non-acidic ink stamp are used.  I don't recall how/where the ink stamp is used, but the micro stamp is used on a "secret page".  The ink stamp tends to be in an up-front, highly visible place, while the micro stamp is relatively well-hidden.

My gut reaction to stamping books and manuscripts is that the value of the item is being decreased.  On the other hand, if, on the odd chance, the library deaccessions any of the material, a certain value might be found in the indication of provenance.  Just a thought.

 

 

8.  Here is another place where museums and archives differ. It is ingrained in museum personnel not to do anything to an object that is not reversible. It goes against everything I was taught to permanently mark a manuscript. It's like mutilating it.

 

 

9.  As one who was heavily involved in creating the current RBMS Security Guidelines and its marking recommendations, I would like to point out that the recommendations there are based on sound theory and practice and on some unfortunate experiences.

Also speaking as one who has been, to his dismay, involved over the past several years in efforts by various libraries to recover their stolen manuscripts, I can assure everyone that an institutional property stamp is the be-all and end-all of recovery efforts if your materials are stolen.  If the visible mark fails in its role as a deterrent and your manuscript is stolen anyway, that mark is going to be removed, even if the thief has to cut it out.  That is why the invisible mark is so important; with any luck the thief will not see it and it will remain on the document to provide proof.  Such things as cataloguing records, scans, microfilms, etc., are all dubious proofs subject to interpretation.  I know of cases wherein the stolen document and the image have been put side by side, and you'd be surprised how different they can appear.

 

Also, regrettably, such excuses as it is too much trouble to mark materials or that doing so is too daunting a task or that it hurts the material will also be turned against a library seeking to recover stolen materials, especially if any amount of time has passed between the theft and its recovery.  Such defenses as estoppal and laches will be raised to deny the library the recovery of its material, especially if the material is unmarked. Lack of marks will merely be interpreted to mean that the library did not take reasonable measures within its grasp to protect its property and will be advanced as yet another reason the aggrieved purchaser does not have to return the materials.

Mark your stuff!  Don't join the unhappy group of librarians and archivists who get to see a judge hand possession of their property to somebody else. Besides, SAA endorses those Guidelines as best professional practice.  No reason not to follow them.

 

 

 

10.  We mark selected manuscript items with Newberry Library ownership stamps, using Library of Congress ink. We can't stamp everything, either, but we don't want a famous person's autograph or other valuable documents getting away. The solution of having a surrogate to use as proof of ownership suggests that one has time to make photocopies or digital copies of everything in the collection, which is more time-consuming, shelf-consuming, and server-consuming than marking the originals.

To avoid thieves trimming the stamp out of the document, we stamp in a prominent place, e.g., on the verso of a letter behind the signature.

Since the Smiley incident, we've stepped up our marking, and now even every page in every valuable atlas has the Newberry's mark on it.  We've learned it's hard to prove ownership otherwise. Personally, I still feel a little guilty about defacing these items, but we're expecting to keep them forever, and even with security guards checking every bag and briefcase at the exit, it's still too easy for some items to walk away.

 

 

11.  Shades of James Bond, there is also the microdot (data dot, Microtaggant) as found on the IFTF site in a discussion of RFID:

 

http://future.iftf.org/rfid/

 

a few entries down as:  Feb. 14, 2005 Other Tagging Methods"

 

Sounds expensive to just spray - but maybe the rice-size piece could be inserted in a spine one by one or attached and concealed some other way.

 

 

12.   When I read your post, it occurred to me that perhaps a mark that is not visible without a UV light might have the desired affect, but not affect the aesthetics of the items so marked.  I have NO idea what is in UV sensitive inks, or if there might not be an inert, non-reactive option. I am thinking maybe something that is organic and naturally UV reactive, like the glow in the dark mushrooms.

 

 

 

 ============================================================

Barbara Austen

Manuscript Archivist / Cataloger

The Connecticut Historical Society Museum

One Elizabeth Street

Hartford, CT  06105

(860) 236-5621, ext. 251

Fax: (860) 236-2664

 

 

 

 

 

 

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