thoughts on the English library system

Upon arriving in Oxford I was disillusioned by thoughts of studying and reading in the grand, old English libraries, especially the reknowned Bodleian. Seeing the actual buildings themselves only heightened this belief. Was I ever wrong. Last night I decided to have my first attempt at using the Bodleian, after 4pm of course. Since I'm not an official Oxford student I can only use the library after 4pm, and only during the week. (For the first time I have a reasonable excuse not to do work on weekends!) So upon entering the Radcliffe Camera (one of 4 buildings that make up the Bodleian, and possibly the most exquisite) it became clear that not only was I not to carry any books out, but I was also not allowed to carry anything in, other than paper and a pen. Once through "customs" I began a search for the sociology books, only the network was down. So I couldn't look up books, and I certainly couldn't request any off the stacks, which was no big deal since I wouldn't be able to get those until the next day anyway. But the nice lady at the desk said I was in the wrong library, so she sent me over to the main building. But before leaving I had to be scrutinized for possibly attempting to sneak out a book, then it was back through the whole system again at the main library. But that wasn't right either. No, no Social Sciences are at the New Bodleian, across the street. So back out, more being searched, back in to a new building, more searching and checking of bags. I finally found the Sociology section. There was much rejoicing. It was like the heavens opened and a ray of light shone down on the shelves of Marx, Simmel and Giddens- books that I would be able to peruse at leisure. And I did, for over an hour, but nothing made sense. Then I realized that I wasn't studyig sociology at all, but rather social psychology, apparently these are two completely different subjects. So different in fact, that (at least at the brilliant Bodleian) they're not even kept in the same area, nay, the same building. Rumor is the books I needed were back at the first building I went to. But calling it a night, I didn't even attempt to locate them. Now some may say this was an entire waste of time, but I see it more as a piece of the big picture. I now know my way around all the Bodleian libraries, I now see the value of requesting books ahead of time, so that you know exactly where to find them, and most importantly, I am now well aware of the significant differences between sociology and social psychology, why I never thought of it before is beyond me. As an individual who prefers to be fully aware of what I am getting in to before doing so, I can only hope that last night was the first of many wonderful evenings to be spent in the anciently beautiful (and incredibly inefficient) Bodleian Library of Oxford.