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Missing Darwin Notebooks Returned to Cambridge University Library

124 points by vo2maxer 5y ago

timeoperator 5y ago
I thought laptops with Darwin kernel.
- hansor 5y ago
  Same here mate :)
londons_explore 5y ago
The brown paper bag being laser printed really cuts down the field of who could have done it... A paper bag won't go through a typical home laser easily... and if it does, it will leave dents in the transfer roller with the folds of the bag, identifying it. I'm gonna guess it's an insider... And there is probably a managed commercial printer in the building which will have a job log showing who printed it... Most commercial printers leave yellow microdots too...
- ben_w 5y ago
  I’d assume an insider took it, forgot they had it, and recently they (or perhaps their child) realised what it was. But as for how it could’ve been laser printed, my experience of Cambridge is a nerd density similar to Hacker News, so I wouldn’t rule out someone making their own laser printer, nor someone using the Cambridge Makespace laser cutter on a really low power and dusting toner on by hand (would that even work?), nor something else equally ridiculous by normal people standards.
  - gswdh 5y ago
- bayindirh 5y ago
  That's a standard, brown A4 envelope. A standard inkjet or laser will print on them without any problems. The printers I have can accommodate them with no problems. If it's a top feed economy laser printer, it's even easier for them. Black/White lasers don't insert microdots most of the time. Also looks like it's printed in economy mode, so tracking it would be very hard, if not impossible.
bloak 5y ago
So why wasn't the thing returned by post, I wonder? Perhaps the notebooks never left the building ...
- samwillis 5y ago
  It’s the cling film they were wrapped in that makes me sure they we outside the building. My theory, an academic “forgot” they had “borrowed” them. Probably found a innocent broke student to deposit the package outside the office in the library in exchange for a sandwich. They will certainly have cctv of the person returning it.
  - jfk13 5y ago
    Alternative that seems at least equally likely to me: a student took them, either as a stupid dare/prank or with the thought that they could sell them; then realised they had no idea how to go about fencing such an item, and stashed them away; now, 20+ years later, they've finally grown-up enough to decide that they're never going to make a fortune selling them, and should do the decent thing by returning them unharmed. If that's the case, the cling-film may be 20 years old, which is probably something analysis can establish. Or, the academic who took them eventually died; in sorting through their stuff, their heirs realised what this was and wanted to return them, but didn't want anyone's name dragged into it. In that scenario, the cling-film is more likely recent, just used to package them for returning.
  - Ntrails 5y ago
    > My theory, an academic “forgot” they had “borrowed” them. Or genuinely meant to borrow them for some reason, but couldn't be assed with the process involved. Maybe it had been mentioned to someone who worked in the library at the time who was a friend, nudge and a wink and I'll get them back next quarter. 6 months passes, the friend moved jobs and no longer have an easy route of return. Ignore the problem until it's far too late to solve in any useful way. etc etc
- Angostura 5y ago
  These things are worth millions. I the impression whoever took them was aware of their value and fragility.
guiriduro 5y ago
Oops, mislaid it and my library card, sorry about the late fee... Speaking of 'thefts' from university libraries, I remember back from my undergraduate days there was a crackdown following apparent losses (unfindable books apparently checked in) wherein the uni instituted a big upgrade in physical security, personnel, entry/exit scanners and book tags, unopenable windows - particularly sweltering in summer. Still, after some weeks more books were going missing. Head of Informatics looked into it, and quickly spotted the problem - they were using a default admin password on their VAX library management software, and it had been passed around liberally. He further needed to explain to them how easy it would be to virtually check-in a physically checked-out book, or just delete the reservation record, before they understood.
cillian64 5y ago
Trying to identify the thief using evidence from their return of the notebooks seems like it would discourage people in future from returning similar stolen objects. But I can understand not wanting the return of a stolen object to indemnify the thief, otherwise you’re encouraging “borrowing” things. Is there a general policy or thought on how to deal with this?
- hwers 5y ago
  Yeah if I were in a similar position in a future scenario and I found this story and it ended with public shaming and prison etc, then I'd just burn the thing instead of trying to return it.
  - krisoft 5y ago
    > if I were in a similar position in a future scenario As in if you stole an invaluable cultural artefact? How often does that happen with you? How would it even happen once? > and I found this story and it ended with public shaming and prison You don't have to look at the end of this story. Thieves when caught end up punished. If there is some innocent explanation, then people don't end up in prison. But it is better be a very good one. > then I'd just burn the thing instead of trying to return it. And that makes you a terrible human being. Thank you for letting me know.
    - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
      It is entirely possible to find oneself implicated after the fact in an act one did not commit but did not speak up about, and then to feel more implicated through fear-paralysis inaction over a long period of time (through the guilt of not speaking up). This is why for example when the British police run public cold case campaigns they often stress that people might seek to come forward because "allegiances change" -- careful code that hints at leniency while seeking help from former co-inmates who have fallen out with the offender, spouses or abused partners leaving husbands, children escaping the control of malignant parents, etc., or people who have simply survived the now dead offender and are no longer terrified to speak. I would wager that many stolen objects are quietly destroyed by those who inherit them, rather than confront the difficulties returning them would involve.
interestica 5y ago
they don’t link to the actual digitized notebooks (afaict). Cambridge has them and they are available to the public: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1 (You can specifically jump to Darwin’s “tree of life” drawing.)
- interestica 5y ago
  Tree of life https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/21 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/21
sidewndr46 5y ago
Ah yes, one of those websites where somehow the default "scroll" functionality has been replaced with strange page changes. Pass.
- temp8964 5y ago
  In combination with a big cookie choice panel. Er..
adolph 5y ago
This Econtalk podcast covers related issues: https://www.econtalk.org/anja-shortland-on-lost-art/ https://www.econtalk.org/anja-shortland-on-lost-art/ Economist and author Anja Shortland of King's College London talks about her new book, Lost Art, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. When a famous painting disappears into the underworld of stolen art, how does it make its way back into the legitimate world of auction houses and museums? Drawing on the archives of a private database of stolen objects--the Art Loss Register--Shortland discusses the economics of the art world when objects up for sale may be the result of theft. Also the Menil Collection's Byzantine Chapel: Mrs. de Menil, who resolved to rescue the frescoes, which were purportedly being sold on behalf of an art dealer. Provenance research revealed Cyprus as their place of origin and, with this knowledge in hand and permission from the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, the Menil purchased the frescoes on behalf of the Church. The Menil subsequently entered into a formal agreement with the Church, which granted permission to restore the frescoes (a three-year process), resulting in a long-term loan of the works

124 points by vo2maxer 5y ago

timeoperator 5y ago

I thought laptops with Darwin kernel.

hansor 5y ago
Same here mate :)

londons_explore 5y ago

The brown paper bag being laser printed really cuts down the field of who could have done it... A paper bag won't go through a typical home laser easily... and if it does, it will leave dents in the transfer roller with the folds of the bag, identifying it. I'm gonna guess it's an insider... And there is probably a managed commercial printer in the building which will have a job log showing who printed it... Most commercial printers leave yellow microdots too...

ben_w 5y ago
I’d assume an insider took it, forgot they had it, and recently they (or perhaps their child) realised what it was. But as for how it could’ve been laser printed, my experience of Cambridge is a nerd density similar to Hacker News, so I wouldn’t rule out someone making their own laser printer, nor someone using the Cambridge Makespace laser cutter on a really low power and dusting toner on by hand (would that even work?), nor something else equally ridiculous by normal people standards.
- gswdh 5y ago
bayindirh 5y ago
That's a standard, brown A4 envelope. A standard inkjet or laser will print on them without any problems. The printers I have can accommodate them with no problems. If it's a top feed economy laser printer, it's even easier for them. Black/White lasers don't insert microdots most of the time. Also looks like it's printed in economy mode, so tracking it would be very hard, if not impossible.

bloak 5y ago

So why wasn't the thing returned by post, I wonder? Perhaps the notebooks never left the building ...

samwillis 5y ago
It’s the cling film they were wrapped in that makes me sure they we outside the building. My theory, an academic “forgot” they had “borrowed” them. Probably found a innocent broke student to deposit the package outside the office in the library in exchange for a sandwich. They will certainly have cctv of the person returning it.
- jfk13 5y ago
  Alternative that seems at least equally likely to me: a student took them, either as a stupid dare/prank or with the thought that they could sell them; then realised they had no idea how to go about fencing such an item, and stashed them away; now, 20+ years later, they've finally grown-up enough to decide that they're never going to make a fortune selling them, and should do the decent thing by returning them unharmed. If that's the case, the cling-film may be 20 years old, which is probably something analysis can establish. Or, the academic who took them eventually died; in sorting through their stuff, their heirs realised what this was and wanted to return them, but didn't want anyone's name dragged into it. In that scenario, the cling-film is more likely recent, just used to package them for returning.
- Ntrails 5y ago
  > My theory, an academic “forgot” they had “borrowed” them. Or genuinely meant to borrow them for some reason, but couldn't be assed with the process involved. Maybe it had been mentioned to someone who worked in the library at the time who was a friend, nudge and a wink and I'll get them back next quarter. 6 months passes, the friend moved jobs and no longer have an easy route of return. Ignore the problem until it's far too late to solve in any useful way. etc etc
Angostura 5y ago
These things are worth millions. I the impression whoever took them was aware of their value and fragility.

guiriduro 5y ago

Oops, mislaid it and my library card, sorry about the late fee... Speaking of 'thefts' from university libraries, I remember back from my undergraduate days there was a crackdown following apparent losses (unfindable books apparently checked in) wherein the uni instituted a big upgrade in physical security, personnel, entry/exit scanners and book tags, unopenable windows - particularly sweltering in summer. Still, after some weeks more books were going missing. Head of Informatics looked into it, and quickly spotted the problem - they were using a default admin password on their VAX library management software, and it had been passed around liberally. He further needed to explain to them how easy it would be to virtually check-in a physically checked-out book, or just delete the reservation record, before they understood.

cillian64 5y ago

Trying to identify the thief using evidence from their return of the notebooks seems like it would discourage people in future from returning similar stolen objects. But I can understand not wanting the return of a stolen object to indemnify the thief, otherwise you’re encouraging “borrowing” things. Is there a general policy or thought on how to deal with this?

hwers 5y ago
Yeah if I were in a similar position in a future scenario and I found this story and it ended with public shaming and prison etc, then I'd just burn the thing instead of trying to return it.
- krisoft 5y ago
  > if I were in a similar position in a future scenario As in if you stole an invaluable cultural artefact? How often does that happen with you? How would it even happen once? > and I found this story and it ended with public shaming and prison You don't have to look at the end of this story. Thieves when caught end up punished. If there is some innocent explanation, then people don't end up in prison. But it is better be a very good one. > then I'd just burn the thing instead of trying to return it. And that makes you a terrible human being. Thank you for letting me know.
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    It is entirely possible to find oneself implicated after the fact in an act one did not commit but did not speak up about, and then to feel more implicated through fear-paralysis inaction over a long period of time (through the guilt of not speaking up). This is why for example when the British police run public cold case campaigns they often stress that people might seek to come forward because "allegiances change" -- careful code that hints at leniency while seeking help from former co-inmates who have fallen out with the offender, spouses or abused partners leaving husbands, children escaping the control of malignant parents, etc., or people who have simply survived the now dead offender and are no longer terrified to speak. I would wager that many stolen objects are quietly destroyed by those who inherit them, rather than confront the difficulties returning them would involve.

interestica 5y ago

they don’t link to the actual digitized notebooks (afaict). Cambridge has them and they are available to the public: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1 (You can specifically jump to Darwin’s “tree of life” drawing.)

interestica 5y ago
Tree of life https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/21 https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/21

sidewndr46 5y ago

Ah yes, one of those websites where somehow the default "scroll" functionality has been replaced with strange page changes. Pass.

temp8964 5y ago
In combination with a big cookie choice panel. Er..

adolph 5y ago

This Econtalk podcast covers related issues: https://www.econtalk.org/anja-shortland-on-lost-art/ https://www.econtalk.org/anja-shortland-on-lost-art/ Economist and author Anja Shortland of King's College London talks about her new book, Lost Art, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. When a famous painting disappears into the underworld of stolen art, how does it make its way back into the legitimate world of auction houses and museums? Drawing on the archives of a private database of stolen objects--the Art Loss Register--Shortland discusses the economics of the art world when objects up for sale may be the result of theft. Also the Menil Collection's Byzantine Chapel: Mrs. de Menil, who resolved to rescue the frescoes, which were purportedly being sold on behalf of an art dealer. Provenance research revealed Cyprus as their place of origin and, with this knowledge in hand and permission from the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, the Menil purchased the frescoes on behalf of the Church. The Menil subsequently entered into a formal agreement with the Church, which granted permission to restore the frescoes (a three-year process), resulting in a long-term loan of the works