Oxford Day 1

I made it through the process of finding my way to another library and getting registered! It's funny how the procedures are so different but some things are the same. For similarities, at neither library so far has anyone really bothered to check my references or read the application paperwork thoroughly. Also, both id photos are ugly, although I gotta say the one for the Bodleian is worse. No, I will not be sharing them here. Library security is also different. The British Library is wide open, free, and publicly accessible. You have to show your reader card to get into a reading room, and they might hold on to it at the desk if you've got something particularly rare or valuable. They actually looked at my letter of reference too. You have to pay to get into the reading rooms at Oxford, either for a tour or as a reader. It's not expensive but it's a noticeable difference. You also have to swipe into the library building (not unusual, we do that at MU) and swipe out of the reading room.  On the other hand, no one has checked my letter of reference or my explanation for why I need to see actual manuscripts that was required on the admissions paperwork (unless they do that after you leave admissions?).

Because the main Bodleian is under construction, special collections temporarily "has been exiled to the basement of the Radcliff Science Library". This is a quotation from the Special Collections Reading Room Superintendent who seems to have been forced to make the temporary reading room his office. He was on the phone trying to explain to someone why the staff member they were trying to call was not even on campus a the time. He also had to tell someone at the BBC (again over the phone) why he couldn't immediately grant them access to Graham Green's papers without checking arrangements and permissions, and they could "bully us all you want" but that wouldn't change the situation. He's really a nice guy though, and he helped me find a reference book that I'd been having trouble locating.

Another nice thing about the Oxford library is that you can have a bunch of stuff on reserve and pre-ordered, which they don't do at the British Library.

I will have to post pictures later as for some reason uploading them isn't happening right now. To be continued...