---
license: cc0-1.0
task_categories:
- text-classification
- feature-extraction
language:
- de
- la
- en
- fr
- it
tags:
- metadata
- cultural_heritage
- research_library
- library_sciences
- machine_learning
- data_science
pretty_name: ark-metadata-V2
size_categories:
- 1M<n<10M
---
# Title
Metadata of the "Alter Realkatalog" (ARK) of Berlin State Library (SBB) Version 2 – August 2025

# Description
This dataset was created with the intent to provide a single larger set of metadata from Berlin State Library for research purposes and the development of AI applications.

The dataset comprises descriptive metadata of 2.639.554 titles derived from the union catalogue K10plus, a database with about 200 million records from libraries across 11 German states. Selected are all records that include system entries ("Systemstellen") from the historical classification of the "Alter Realkatalog" (ARK), a subject catalogue of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library. They refer to publications from 1501 to 1955 and reproductions thereof. The title data contain subject headings and BK classmarks that have been transmitted onto them from the "[Historische Systematik](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/)", the online representation of the ARK classification (see below).

The data are stored in columnar format, containing 386 columns. They were downloaded in August 2025 from the union catalogue K10plus. Exemplary tasks which can be served by this dataset comprise studies on the history of books between 1501 and 1955, on the paratextual formatting of academic books between 1800 and 1955, and on pattern recognition on the basis of bibliographical metadata. Moreover, title lists for individual sections from the historical classification system can be compiled, e.g. Bible translations, comets, alchemy, cook books, as well as lists pertaining to individual countries, places or persons.

#The primary intention of the publication of this dataset was the provision of a large computationally amenable dataset exclusively consisting of bibliographic metadata to stimulate research and development of AI applications. In 2025, large (meta-)datasets from the field of historical cultural data are still missing. In this respect, the dataset provided here aims to fill a gap. The dataset is suitable for the computational use of digitised and born-digital collections according to the [Collections as Data principles](https://collectionsasdata.github.io/statement/)).

The dataset was created in the framework of the research project "[Mensch.Maschine.Kultur – Künstliche Intelligenz für das Digitale Kulturelle Erbe](https://mmk.sbb.berlin/?lang=en)" at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library (SBB). The research project was funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), project grant no. 2522DIG002.


## Homepage
[Bibliographic Data from StaBiKat](https://lab.sbb.berlin/bibliographic-data-from-stabikat/?lang=en)

## Publisher
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library

## Dataset Curators
The dataset was curated and published by a member of the research project "Mensch.Maschine.Kultur" ("Human.Machine.Culture"), using data resulting from the former project "ARK-Online”:

Jörg Lehmann, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library. Jörg Lehmann has studied history and comparative literature and works in the research project "Mensch.Maschine.Kultur"; he was responsible for downloading the data, curating them as described, and drafting the datasheet.


## Other Contributors
Processing of the data of the "Alter Realkatalog (ARK)" of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library was carried out in collaboration with the Verbundzentrale (VZG) of the Gemeinsame Bibliotheksverbund (GBV). 

Consultants for this dataset:

Heike Krems, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library, research librarian; editorial office of ARK-Online

Susanne Henschel, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library, research librarian; editorial office of ARK-Online

As libraries have to reconsider their core tasks (here: the provision of metadata), this dataset publication transcends traditional librarian formats and provides a computer-amenable dataset.

## Point of Contact
Technical questions:

Clemens Neudecker, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library, [clemens.neudecker@sbb.spk-berlin.de](mailto:clemens.neudecker@sbb.spk-berlin.de), ORCID: [0000-0001-5293-8322](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5293-8322)

Jörg Lehmann, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library, [joerg.lehmann@sbb.spk-berlin.de](mailto:joerg.lehmann@sbb.spk-berlin.de), ORCID: [0000-0003-1334-9693](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1334-9693)

Historische Systematik des Alten Realkatalogs (ARK):

John Woitkowitz, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library,  [john.woitkowitz@sbb.spk-berlin.de](mailto:john.woitkowitz@sbb.spk-berlin.de), ORCID: [0000-0002-5604-1480](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5604-1480)

[ark-info@sbb.spk-berlin.de](mailto:ark-info@sbb.spk-berlin.de)


## Papers and/or Other References
[Geschichte und Aufbau ARK | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin](https://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/recherche/kataloge-der-staatsbibliothek/alter-realkatalog-und-historische-systematik/geschichte-und-aufbau-ark)

[Alter Realkatalog und Historische Systematik | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin](https://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/recherche/kataloge-der-staatsbibliothek/alter-realkatalog-und-historische-systematik)

Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Systematischer Katalog bis 1955 (alter Realkatalog): Sachgruppen- und Signaturenübersicht, [https://stabikat.de/Record/118799177](https://stabikat.de/Record/118799177)


## Supported Tasks and Shared Tasks
The dataset may, for example, be used for the following three tasks:
- Task "history of books between 1501 and 1955". See as an example [Lathi et al, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2018.1543747) 
- Task "paratextual formatting of books between 1800 and 1955". See as an example [Kilchör and Lehmann, 2022](https://doi.org/10.17175/2020_003_v2)
- Task "pattern recognition on the basis of bibliographical metadata". Such patterns could be used for [retrieval-augmented generation of metadata](https://scale.com/blog/retrieval-augmented-generation-to-enhance-llms). See as an example [Völker et al, 2024](https://doi.org/10.1145/3627508.3638298)

These three tasks are narratively described in more detail in the file "Three Use Cases for the ARK Metadata" which is part of this dataset publication.
The dataset was not part of a shared task.

### AI Category 
Natural Language Processing, Feature Extraction

### Type of Cultural Heritage Application
Metadata Enrichment

### (Cultural Heritage) Application Example
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)

# Distribution
This dataset is distributed by the named dataset curators. Dissemination on the publication was done via social media in order to reach the relevant research and machine learning communities. 

## Data Access URL
[https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17406448](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17406448)

## Licensing Information
[Creative Commons Zero v1.0 – CC0 1.0 Universal](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

## File Format
application/vnd.apache.parquet

## Citation Information
```
@dataset{krems_2025_17406448,
  author       = {Krems, Heike and
                  Henschel, Susanne and
                  Lehmann, Jörg},
  title        = {Metadata of the "Alter Realkatalog" (ARK) of
                   Berlin State Library (SBB) Version 2 – August
                   2025
                  },
  month        = oct,
  year         = 2025,
  publisher    = {Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library},
  version      = 2,
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.17406448},
  url          = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17406448},
}

```

# Composition
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library is an institution which is part of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It was founded in 1661 by the Elector of Brandenburg Friedrich Wilhelm and has since collected cultural heritage objects from all fields of knowledge, all countries and in all languages, including monographs, manuscripts, maps, photographs. The systematic catalogue, known as the "Realkatalog", was established from 1842 onwards. It is based on a systematic listing of the contemporary holdings, new recordings of all titles and the assignment of individual shelfmarks to each book. The result was a location-based systematic catalogue in volumes that accurately reflected the systematic arrangement of the books on the shelves. The setup of the systematic catalogue was completed in 1881. From then onwards, all new acquisitions were entered in the catalogue volumes, and the system was subject to minor adaptations over the course of time. A reform of the arrangement and shelfmarks took place in 1946, but the catalogue was continued as the systematic catalogue until 1955. Then, a new systematic catalogue was set up for the printed works published from 1956 onwards. The "Alter Realkatalog" (ARK), on the other hand, has been continued for all printed matter (books, periodicals) published before 1956. To this day, all antiquarian works from the period 1501 – 1955 are entered in the ARK classification system, now using its online version, "Historische Systematik". Moreover, records of digitized ARK titles are added to the classification system, both those digitized by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library and digitisations from other libraries.

It is worth knowing that the ARK contains records of printed works that once belonged to the holdings of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library and its respective predecessors, independent of their being still extant or not. Thus, titles that once belonged to the library's collection but are classified as war losses are also contained in the dataset. The idea behind this approach is that the bibliographical record of the works is retained and the original collection context can still be recognised. As a side note, also listed in the catalogue are several hundred thousand volumes acquired to replace the holdings that had not returned from evacuation during the Second World War.

In a way that is peculiar to the time of its creation, the shelfmarks correspond to the classification system of the ARK and function as system entries. They consist of an upper and (mostly) a lower-case letter and a non-consecutive number. This should allow new acquisitions to be entered on the exact spot. The main groups of the classification system going back to 1842 follow the traditional order of the faculties in the universities at the beginning of the 19th century. Seven main groups can be named as follows: 

**I. General** (letter A, about 285.000 titles)

**II. Theology** (letters B to E, about 290.000 titles)

**III. Political Science and Law** (letters F to H, about 350.000 titles)

**IV. Medicine, Natural Sciences** (letters J to M, about 370.000 titles)

**V. Pedagogy, Philosophy, Art, Technology** (letters N to O, about 315.000 titles)

V**I. History** (letters P to U, about 590.000 titles)

**VII. Languages and Literature** (letters V to Z, about 550.000 titles)

A detailed overview of the classification system and of the respective ranges of shelfmarks [can be found here online](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/).

Duplicated entries were identified using the unique identifier Pica Production Number (PPN) and removed (some individual titles were listed in more than one class of the classification system). After deduplication, the dataset comprises about 2.6 million titles, the metadata of which are sorted into 386 columns. 

Exemplary tasks for which this dataset may be used are studies on the history of books between 1501 and 1955, on the paratextual formatting of books between 1800 and 1955, and on pattern recognition on the basis of bibliographical metadata.

The dataset was created by systematically downloading all available titles of the ARK from the K10plus. This was done letter by letter, according to the system of shelfmarks described above. The intention was to provide a substantial and at the same time delimited dataset comprising bibliographic metadata from Berlin State Library. The language used in the dataset is German; however, the titles described in the dataset may be in other languages as well, such as Latin, English, or French. According to the numbers of titles reported above for each of the major classes in the classification system, a broad range of domains, topics, and genres are covered by the titles of the "Alter Realkatalog". However, the emphasis of Berlin State Library on collecting literature relevant for the humanities is still identifiable.

The dataset does not contain any personal or sensitive information. It fully complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The dataset does not contain information that is under copyright. It exclusively comprises textual information and links. Authors and persons who are subject of the listed titles are named and most often linked to authority files, especially to the Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND).


## Dataset Category 
metadata

## Media Category
text

## Object Type
books, monographs, leaflets, serials (publications), journals (periodicals) 

Vocabulary according to the [Getty AAT](https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/aat/).

## Dataset Structure
Within the K10plus, bibliographic information is provided in machine-readable form separated into fields. An overview of most of these fields as well as instructions on how to insert information into each field [can be found here (in German language only)](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=index&katalog=Standard). Data for the 2.6 million titles were transformed from the format available in the K10plus into a columnar format, where each of the fields forms an individual column. In K10plus, the field names are given in the form of four digits. For a better readability of the table, these four digits were replaced with the field names used in the [documentation](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=index&katalog=Standard). 

This dataset does not contain data splits which could be used for machine learning tasks. It is advisable to first analyse the dataset and then perform the split(s), for example to split off portions of the dataset relative to the numbers of titles published over time (see description of biases below).


### Data Instances
For nearly every column, there can be found information [in the documentation](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=index&katalog=Standard) on how to interpret the content and resolve the keys used in every field. [Field 1500](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=1500&katalog=Standard), for example, holds the information on the language of the publication in ISO 639-2/B format, e.g. ger, lat, fre, eng. Moreover, further information has been inserted separated by a \$ and a lower-case letter. The entry "ger\$drus\$deng\$dfre" contains the separator \$d and can be read as "the language of the publication is German, and there are summaries in Russian, English, and French". The entry "ger\$cfre" can be read as "the language of the publication is German, but the original text is in French".

### Data Fields
While most fields (or columns) are described in the [documentation](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=index&katalog=Standard), there are a couple of columns in the dataset for which the documentation does not provide firm explanations. In the case of this dataset, these columns were populated by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library following its own rules. The columns from "[Schlagwortfolgen 5550" to "Schlagwortfolgen 5559](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=5550&katalog=Standard)" contain subject headings. Among them are subject headings originating from the project ARK-Online; these are marked with $AARK. The columns from "Lokale Notationen 6010" to "Lokale Notationen 6012" contain system entries from the "Alter Realkatalog" or the ARK classification system for the period 1501 to 1955; as a general rule, these are created on the basis of – extant or fictitious – shelfmarks from the "Alter Realkatalog", followed by "ff.". The columns "Lesesaalsystematik der SBB 6210" and "Lesesaalsystematik der SBB 6211" contain ARK system entries in standardized format and, as a result of processing, a link to a class on the lowest hierarchy level in the classification system of the "Alter Realkatalog" (see below). The columns "Lokale Schlagwörter 6800" to "Lokale Schlagwörter 6808" contain information on the provenance of the books, thus complementing the column "Provenienz". The column "Lokale Schlagwörter 6870" contains local standard data for coloured paper indexing. The columns "Lokale Schlagwörter 6880" to "Lokale Schlagwörter 6887" contain further information on previous owners and on acquisition, for example on books looted by the Nazis.

A key element in this dataset are Pica Production Numbers (PPNs). PPNs are unique identifiers used for individual entries; in the dataset, they are surrounded by exclamation marks (!...!) and are thus machine-readable. They can be related to titles as well as to authority records. For example, the PPN [413526771](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=413526771) relates to the title "Das Feteh Mahari", a book about customs and laws of people in Eritrea. This PPN is used in the following link via which the title can be accessed in the catalogue of Berlin State Library [https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=413526771](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=413526771). The title is part of a series, "Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse", which was assigned the PPN [129510084](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=129510084); via this PPN, all contributions to the series are linked to the series entry and can be retrieved together. The translator of this text, the Orientalist Prof. Dr. Maria Höfner, has received the PPN [134678230](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=134678230). It refers to the authority record "Maria Höfner" in the online catalogue [https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=134678230](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=134678230) or in the form of a xml file in [DublinCore](http://unapi.k10plus.de/?id=gvk:ppn:134678230&format=dc/) or [MODS](http://unapi.k10plus.de/?id=gvk:ppn:134678230&format=mods) format. Her GND number is [118190415](https://d-nb.info/gnd/118190415), her wikidata ID [Q29016671](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29016671). Furthermore, places, topics, and other entities were assigned PPNs as well, such as the [Tigre people (PPN 70000677X)](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/SET=2/TTL=1/PPN?PPN=70000677X), an ethnic group indigenous to Eritrea, who are one of the subjects of the above-cited text. This PPN conforms to the GND number [4120412-8](https://d-nb.info/gnd/4120412-8). Finally, all the classes in the "Historische Systematik", the online version of the classification system of the "Alter Realkatalog", have received PPNs as well. The PPN 086928120 is used for the subclass "[Literatur](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=225439&recherche=002.016.020.016.002.001.003.005&ACT=&IKT=&TX=&SET=&NSI=SYS)" of the subsection "Äthiopisch · Amharisch (Äthiopien) · Tigre (Äthiopien) · Ge'ez (Äthiopien)", which belongs to the section "Sprachen · Literaturen", and all the titles related to this subclass can be retrieved via Berlin State Library's [online catalogue](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/REL?PPN=086928120) as well using the PPN. In this entry, one can identify the range of shelfmarks that are used for this class, in the chosen example shelfmarks in the range from Zz 726 to Zz 845. This last type of PPNs is specific to the "Historische Systematik"; there is no GND equivalent for them, which documents that its basis, the "Alter Realkataolg", is regarded as a classification system of its own.


### Compliance with Standard(s)
The standard used in the K10plus is PICA, a library-specific xml standard. However, to enable better ingestion and processing, the files were converted, consolidated in a data frame and saved in the columnar format .parquet.

### Data Splits
Not applicable.

## Languages
The languages represented in the dataset (i.e. the language of the publications listed there) are, in descending order of their frequency, German (ger), Latin (lat), French (fre), English (eng), Italian (ita), Russian (rus), Dutch (dut), Spanish (spa), Hebrew (heb), etc. Beyond these, several hundred other languages are represented as well. See the column "Sprachcodes" in the dataset, which specifies the language of the publication in [ISO 639-2/B](https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php) format.

## Descriptive Statistics
The dataset comprises 2.639.554 observations of 386 variables. In other words: 2.639.554 titles published between 1501 and 1955 are described in 386 columns. The columns are sparsely populated. Most of the columns are of the data type "character" due to additional, character-based codes within field contents, derived from the MARC-xml format which is stored in the K10plus. The column "Pica Produktionsnummer", which holds the unique key for each entry, is also in character format, because some of the keys contain an "X". File size is 970 MB / 1.017.739.197 Bytes

# Data Collection Process
The idea behind the decision to collect all the titles listed in the ARK in August 2025 was to compile a reasonably large dataset of bibliographic metadata which is delimitable and at the same time has not been gathered with regard to content. Rather, the criterion of whether or not a title is added to the ARK is a formal one, namely the year of publication, which has to lie between 1501 and 1955 referring to the publications themselves, their digital duplicates and the originals of more recent reproductions.

Alternative datasets with similar characteristics are, for example, the metadata of the "Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke", a compilation of a retrospective German national bibliography for historical prints of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century. This dataset has been published under the DOI [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15167938](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15167938). A subset of this dataset is contained in the present dataset; however, both datasets are not congruent.


## Curation Rationale
The lack of large-scale datasets with bibliographic metadata motivated the creation of this dataset. Curation was performed with great care with the intent to keep as much information as possible while discarding some fields/columns due to them being sparsely populated and removing duplicated entries.

## Source Data

### Initial Data Collection
The data have been systematically downloaded from the K10plus in August 2025 and consolidated into one single table. During the process of consolidation, some columns were sorted out. In the vast majority of the cases, the decision for deletion was taken on a statistical basis: A column containing less than 10 entries seemed dispensable with regard to the fact that 2,638,000 entries could be there. Further reasons for the dismissal of columns were the fact that they are relevant only for internal purposes or where it was clear that they resulted from obvious mistakes. 

After data collection and consolidation, data were modified only in three columns. In other words: In three columns, a part of the data was deleted. In these three cases, there were entries containing links to external sources (such as reviews or full texts of books), and it was specified that the transfer of the URL to third parties is not permitted. All other data are presented *as is*, without any manipulation. No normalisation of any data has been performed.


### Source Data Producers
The source data were produced by trained librarians over the course of the past 180 years, i.e. starting from 1841. The titles to be included in the ARK were the carefully selected acquisitions of the library over the course of several centuries, and the source data were created by librarians under changing rules and standards. It was only in 1899 that the so-called "Preußische Instruktionen" (Prussian Instructions), a cataloguing set of rules for academic libraries, were introduced. In the 20th century, they were replaced by other sets of rules, and towards the end of the 20th century, the bibliographic records were transferred into electronic formats like MARC.xml and administered in the Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund GBV, where a broad range of sources and contributors enrich the data. After 2000, within the project ARK-Online all classes and subclasses of the ARK classification system were identified and recorded in their hierarchical relations, and every single such record has been described with subject headings – preferably from the Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND) – and classmarks from the Basisklassifikation (BK). On the lowest level of the hierarchy, there is a link to the included titles. Selected subject headings from all levels and BK classmarks from the lowest level are transmitted onto these titles. 

It is notable that this dataset does not only document a significant volume and diversity of publications, but is the result of centuries-long processes of selection of relevant historical titles, and of data production and collection conducted with care.


### Digitisation Pipeline
Not applicable.

## Preprocessing and Cleaning
Beyond the removal of duplicates and the data cleaning described above in the section "Initial Data Collection", no preprocessing of the dataset has been undertaken. The conversion of the dataset from data frame format to the columnar arrow format was performed with the aim to alleviate ingestion of the dataset for machine learning purposes. 

## Annotations
Not applicable.

### Annotation Process
Not applicable.

### Annotators
Not applicable.

### Crowd Labour
Not applicable.

## Data Provenance
The provenance of the data is the K10plus, which is the union catalogue of the library networks GBV (Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund) and SWB (Südwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund). Alternatively, the data could have been retrieved [via the unAPI or SRU-API of the GBV](http://uri.gbv.de/database/k10plus). The licence generally attached to [bibliographic metadata](https://format.gbv.de/about/license) is [CCO](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). 

## Use of Linked Open Data, Controlled Vocabulary, Multilingual Ontologies/Taxonomies
The dataset contains links to several authority file types (persons, corporate bodies, places, subjects) and to classification systems such as the Basisklassifikation [BK](https://wiki.k10plus.de/spaces/K10PLUS/pages/437452809/Basisklassifikation+Stand+06+2019), the [LCC](https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/) or [DDC](https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey.html) notation systems. The classification was performed by subject librarians. 

For example, persons as creators of works are usually linked to the Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND, Integrated Authority File), like e.g. the author and contributor Karl Gustav Rodén, who has received the GND identifier [1300684216](https://). The Basisklassifikation is usually linked via a PPN; e.g., the PPN [106404547](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/SET=10/TTL=5/MAT=/NOMAT=T/REL?PPN=106404547) is used for the Basisklassifikation identifier 17.98 pointing to anthologies. The LCC classmark is given in the original format, e.g. as HV8203 pointing to "[Police, Detectives, Constabulary / By region or country](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/SET=7/TTL=1/MAT=/NOMAT=T/CLK?IKT=16&TRM=HV8203)". The same holds for the DDC: The ID 360 points to the DDC class "[Social Problems & Services](https://lbssbb.gbv.de/DB=1/SET=7/TTL=1/MAT=/NOMAT=T/CLK?IKT=8272&TRM=360)".


## Version Information
This is the second version of the dataset. The first version of the dataset has been collected in early December 2023. Since the first release, more than one million entries have been added to the fields "[Basisklassifikation](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=5301&katalog=Standard)" and "[Schlagwortfolgen 5550" to "Schlagwortfolgen 5559](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=5550&katalog=Standard)", to "[Lesesaalsystematik der SBB 6210" and "Lesesaalsystematik der SBB 6211](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=6210&katalog=Standard)". Furthermore, even though the "Alter Realkatalog" ends with the publication year 1955, that does not mean that the number of titles contained in it stops to grow. Antiquarian works from the period 1501–1955, which are continually acquired by Berlin State Library, are entered the ARK classification system and are thus adding to the total number of titles which are contained in the dataset. Furthermore, records of digitized ARK titles are being added to the ARK dataset, whether digitised by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Berlin State Library itself or by other libraries. This also augments the dataset.

### Release Date
October 21st, 2025

### Date of Modification
Not applicable.

### Checksums
**MD5 checksum of the ARK-Metadata-V2.parquet:**

d3b94c491b2a0a950582d5b812f7bd0b 

**SHA 256 checksum of the ARK-Metadata-V2.parquet:**

62a7692206f4a816e430886d60365ce4059bee828b233ffc69bde5175112d96f


## Maintenance Plan

### Maintenance Level
*Limited Maintenance* – The data will not be updated, but any technical issues will be addressed

### Update Periodicity 
The dataset is not foreseen to be updated again.  


# Examples and Considerations for Using the Data
The dataset is suitable to serve the three exemplary tasks described above. Further possible uses are provenance research, especially with respect to books and documents looted by the Nazis, or the creation of a knowledge graph out of the PPNs of titles contained in the "Alter Realkatalog" together with the related data, which can be retrieved online as described above. Furthermore, the dataset can be used to examine the [metadata diversity](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.01193), the [data quality](https://doi.org/10.3233/SW-210441), and its potential to be transformed into [linked open data](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.11182). People using this dataset are welcome to provide feedback on this dataset and on the uses made of it to the dataset curators.

## Ethical Considerations

### Personal and Other Sensitive Information
The dataset does not contain personal or sensitive information beyond what is available in international authority files. Authors of and contributors to the publications described in this dataset may still be living; however, this complies with international privacy laws.

This dataset pertains to a difficult history insofar as it contains information on titles looted by the Nazis. Such information can be found in the fields "[Lokale Schlagwörter 6808](https://swbtools.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/k10plushelp.pl?cmd=kat&val=6800&katalog=Standard)" ff. Provenance is a field of still ongoing research, and the database may serve as a source of further, especially quantitative, analysis.


### Discussion of Biases
This dataset reflects at least two biases on different levels: The first bias is introduced by the [classification system](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/) established in the second half of the 19th century – between 1842 and 1881 – and which is foundational for the "Alter Realkatalog". This system reflects the biases of these times, especially with regard to biologistic thinking and dismissive consideration of specific population groups. Some examples of problematic categories in the "Alter Realkatalog" are as follows: The "Physiologie" subsection of the main group "Medizin" lists "Menschenrassen", and "Neger" and "Australier" as subcategories of "[Einzelne Haupt-Menschenarten](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=70230)". Consequently, there are also subsections "[Eugenik](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=70220)" and "[Gesetze zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=70221)" to be found under "Medizin". The "Afrika" subsection of the main group "Geschichte" lists "[Neger, Sklavenhandel](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=146872)" as a class on its own, while the "Wirtschaftswissenschaft" subsection of "Politik" lists "[Kolonisation](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=55185)" as a class on its own. The "Weitere okzidentalische Sprachen" subsection of "Sprache und Literaturen" lists "[Zigeunersprache](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=222478)" as a class on its own, a classification which can be seen as a typical "other" category, and the "Ethnography" subsection of "Geschichte" lists "[Völkergruppen und Rassen](https://ark.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/system_detail.php?id=100550)" as a class on its own. Taken together, these classes reveal the racist, discriminatory and colonialist thinking of the time, viewing people from a range of 'scientific' perspectives (such as economy, medicine, or ethnography). Especially problematic is the fact that the biologistic foundation of the thinking implies a 'naturalisation' of the classification system which at the same time legitimises the power structures of the era of colonialism AND is the *lingua franca* of a library system.

The second bias to be named here is the uneven distribution of titles published over time. The biased classification system prepared in the second half of the 19th century was populated with the output of the rotary printing press, which was steeply increasing from the middle of the 19th century onwards and further accelerated with the invention and use of the offset press around 1870. While the absolute numbers of titles listed in the "Alter Realkatalog" stayed below 10.000 per year until about the 1870s, the numbers rise to about 20.000 per year around 1900, beyond 25.000 at the beginning of the First World War and beyond 35.000 per year at the beginning of the 1930s. While there has not yet been conducted a certainly illuminating analysis of how many titles were sorted into which category of the classification system over time, it seems most likely that, in terms of absolute numbers of titles published, this second bias exacerbates the first bias. 

As the "Alter Realkatalog" is a documentation of a historical evolution of printed matter, no steps have been taken to mitigate these biases. Further analysis of the aforementioned biases and further ones are encouraged.


### Potential Societal Impact of Using the Dataset
This dataset describes historical titles (monographs, collective works, serials, journals) that have been published between 1501 and 1955. The social impact of the dataset might therefore be very low. However, since a part of these publications refer to colonial subjects, especially the populations of the German colonies between 1879 and 1915, harmful effects on these populations are thinkable.

This dataset may be used to identify printed resources that contain valuable information on low-resource or underrepresented languages. These resources could be used to support underserved communities.
      	

## Examples of Datasets, Publications and Models that (re-)use the Dataset 
Version 1 of this dataset was evaluated in Dişli, M., Gabriëls, N., Chambers, S., Ames, S., Knazook, B., & Candela, G. (2025). Exploring the adoption of collections as data in the GLAM context. Information Research an International Electronic Journal, 30(CoLIS), 65–77. [https://doi.org/10.47989/ir30CoLIS52252](https://doi.org/10.47989/ir30CoLIS52252). Beyond this publication, there are no known datasets, publications or models that (re-)use this dataset yet.    	

## Known Non-Ethical Limitations
There are no other known limitations of this dataset. Users are invited to report such limitations back to the curators.

## Unanticipated Uses made of this Dataset
There are no known unanticipated uses made of this dataset. Users are invited to report the uses they made of this dataset back to the curators, which would enable an update of the datasheet.

Datasheet as of October 21st, 2025