Card catalogues of the State Library will continue to be preserved for the time being
Press release from 02/16/2026
Great interest in researching card catalogues at State Library symposium - catalogues will be preserved for the time being
The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin recently hosted an academic discussion entitled "Card catalogues. Untouchable cultural asset, active object of research or substitutable historical tool?". The conference was supported and co-organised by the Institute for Library and Information Science at Humboldt University Berlin and the Gutenberg Institute for World Literature and Written Media at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
The colloquium demonstrated the academic interest in fundamental research into the history and significance of card catalogues. The ontological status of card catalogues alone has not yet been conclusively clarified - i.e. their classification as pure working tools of libraries, as archival records whose permanent storage would fall under archive law, or as museum objects. The attitude to the question of whether microfiche or retro-digitisation are the best means of preserving knowledge has also changed over the years, as the colloquium contributions showed. The way card catalogues have been handled to date is not uniform worldwide. Some libraries have maculated their catalogues after digitisation, while many other institutions attach importance to preserving them in the original for future research projects. Research interest has been shown in particular with regard to those Berlin card catalogues that were created during the GDR era.
Against this background, the State Library would like to open up the possibility of further academic work with the card catalogues and will continue to preserve them for the time being.
Marion Ackermann, President of the SPK, says: "The extent to which society can afford archiving and musealisation is always a social negotiation process. I am looking forward to the contributions and research questions that are expected in the near future."
Achim Bonte, Director General of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, adds: "The academic symposium has so far shown little visible, lively interest in researching historical card catalogues. In order to allow sufficient time for the desired content-related and methodological knowledge processes, the areas within the foundation that have been lacking to date should be guaranteed until further notice."
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is one of the largest and most efficient libraries in Europe, specialising in research in the humanities and social sciences. It develops world-class knowledge resources and uses state-of-the-art technologies to promote international exchange and free access to information. Founded in 1661, its often unique range of media is characterised by exceptional cultural diversity, geographical breadth and historical depth. As an institution of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the State Library offers outstanding infrastructures for scholars as well as a rich programme of events for Berlin's urban society.