Podcast440 manuscripts vanish without a trace from Ankara University
A total of 440 manuscripts have gone missing from Ankara University's library. “It is also not possible to determine how many years the books have actually been missing and whether the civil servants were responsible. In this case, it is clear that there are deficiencies in the checking and counting processes,” read a report from Turkey's Court of Accounts.
Duvar English
Four hundred and forty manuscripts have gone missing from the library of Ankara University's Language, History and Geography faculty library, according to an inspection report from Turkey's Court of Accounts.
Library staff told the Court of Accounts that records were not kept regarding the people that last checked out the manuscripts in question. The court's inspectors included that it was possible that the manuscripts had not been checked out but taken out of the library by users.
Prior to 2013, a process of registering the library's collection of 15,000 manuscripts was initiated but never finished.
“It is also not possible to determine how many years the books have actually been missing and whether the civil servants were responsible. In this case, it is clear that there are deficiencies in the checking and counting processes,” said the report.
“In other words, the failure to establish a sound registration system will prevent the investigation of potential problems,” it said.