ABSTRACT
Technical and legal considerations complicate their use. It is these considerations that have prompted Alice Harrison Bahr to say in Book Theft and Library Security Systems: 1978–1979: “Studies indicate that electronic security systems can be effective book theft deterrents, but alternate theft prevention programs have also been successful.” One aspect of the electronic security system librarians like is that it is impersonal. Matt Roberts expounds the conservative point of view in the matter of the efficacy of the electronic detection system: “It is unfortunate that electronic detection is not the answer to the theft problem. One premise guiding the installation of an electronic detection system is that the presence of the system will deter the casual thief. Librarians believe that electronic theft detection systems are an aid to the forgetful student and stop impulsive thefts. Libraries have come a long way since the arrival of the 1964 Sentronic System of General Nucleonics.
