Let me tell a small anecdote. Last spring, I walked into the Oriental Collection in Punjab University Library and asked to see the catalogue. After proving my authenticity as a student, I was asked by the clerk to write down the name of the manuscript that I wanted to see. I said, well, I don't know which manuscript I want to see because I don't know what is in your holdings. I was asked to go to the Old Campus and purchase the catalogue. Sure thing. Next day, I came back and had a specific call# or two. I was told to, then, write a petition to the Oriental Librarian requesting permission to see the manuscript. When presented with the petition, she didn't even glance up from her desk and told me to go back to Old Campus and get the petition stamped by the Chair of the Persian Dept. for validation that my research agenda necessitated that manuscript. She also threw in a lecture on my bad English for good measure (this damn yankee accent). I went to see the Chair of the Persian Dept., explained my research, showed him my petition and asked for his assistance in this matter. He let me sit out there for a while before grilling me on why I would want to study such odd things and shouldn't I be making good money as a computer engineer in Houston. Finally, he signed the petition. The next day, I returned to the Oriental Librarian. She did not even LOOK at the petition I was handing out to her, simply stated to the clerk to go get what I wanted. Power play. Anyways, the clerk says to come back the next day and they will pull the manuscripts from the archives. Sure thing. I returned the next day and was given the stack of manuscripts and a desk to work on.