Re: MAP THIEF GILBERT BLAND

[ewilkie@ix.netcom.com (Everett Wilkie)]

Without pressing this point too hard, I would like to point out the 
crucial role that ExLibris list played in alerting people to Bland.  On 
7 December 1995, Cynthia Requardt of Johns Hopkins posted a note on 
this list about Bland's activities at her institution and the 
circumstances of his detection and apprehension.  Because of that 
message, literally hundreds of librarians were alerted to check their 
own records, which they did, and the magnitude of Bland's activities 
became apparent.  Without Cynthia's message and without this list, 
which distributed her message to nearly a thousand people, Bland might 
have gone undetected for quite some time.  You may say what you might 
about the good old days, but in this case the ease and rapidity of 
electronic communication has proven its worth.


-- 
			Everett C. Wilkie, Jr.
		  Head Librarian and Crofut Curator 
		    of Rare Books and Manuscripts
		 The Connecticut Historical Society
	      1 Elizabeth St., Hartford, CT, 06105 USA
		860-236-5621, x250; Fax 860-236-2664
		      Cell phone:  860-416-5357
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