That's true, EMERs & AESPs have a structural logic & thats how I store them. The problem comes with WO & Army Code publications, there is no logical structure. It is vaguely chronological but not rigidly. Some are pocket size manuals, others are A4 or larger. So there isn't proper utilisation on of shelving if a lot of small books occupy large shelves for some larger books.
There is no defined grouping of subject matter & type of book (User Handbook, Illustrated Parts List, CES, Regulations, Vocabularies, Training etc) here are some sequences of publications:
Clothing Regulations
Regulation for Supply, Transport & Barrack Services
Visual Training
Unit Battlefield Counter Surveillance
RE reconnaissance Pocket Book
ISPL, Trailer, 1/2 Ton, Jointers, 2 Whld Mk 1
RAC Training
Field Engineering & Mine Warfare
Staff Duties in the Field
So no obvious pattern there. The way the Army catalogue them is to group them according to type ie User Handbook, CES etc. I tend to do it that way so that all the CES go together as these are generally large, User Handbooks together as they are usually small.
I have a very comprehensive database set up for me by Neil :bow: which is very good for in depth searches & checking what I have got. But it would be tedious to refer to that each time I want a book to get the WO/Army Code then find it. So what happens is that favourite subjects have all the different types of document together.
So there are shelves just for Humber, trailers, Series Rovers, 'Defender' Rovers, IR eqpt, animals, Regulations, VAOS etc. Then other stuff gets lumped together in era between WWs, WW1, pre-WW1. Not entirely logical but at least relevant stuff is altogether. When writing an article, as most research is from stuff I have got rather than libraries, it has been extremely annoying to realise I have missed some good material by it being spread out somewhere else rather than lumped together in a subject.
So it may not be the best system & probably only appears to work by me remembering what stuff is where. That of course is about to change when I move into the larger room & everything has to get re-shelved.
Yes I know I could scan it all & shuffle it around in any way that takes my whim. But that would be a near impossible task, besides experiencing the real document is the thing, the rusty paperclip, the crinkly page, the smell of damp paper, the scribbled ammendments, the well thumbed page... :rtfm: