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Our library recently inherited the many-volumed Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry. I have to admit that I am relatively unfamiliar with this resource. The library has determined that there are "a couple ways" to organize it, and I have been asked to provide some intellectual guidance (pah). I've found some resources about this (http://library.buffalo.edu/asl/guides/gmelin.html), but I'm seeking input from those of you out there who might be able to provide some more direct insight. Thank you!
Gmelin was one of those "everything we know about this subject" compendia that jumped the shark in the 1930's when Linus Pauling wrote, "The Nature of the Chemical Bond". It suffered the fate of all broken ontologies--"How do you reorganize something when its existing (archaic) organization is baked into the cake, and can't be undone?" becomes an unanswerable question.
Organization by element is probably the best one can do with Gmelin, not that it makes any sense...(anyone here work with compounds containing 2 or more elements?), but that's the organization that matches its internal structure.
Online versions are party cured of this because of the nature of the link-you don't have to undo an old ontology to build a new one-you just build new links. Despite that, it's a fossil. It was useless 20 years ago when I last used it.
It can also be used as toilet paper in the event of an emergency that isolates the college from the outside world.