institutional/institutional-books-1.0-metadata

📚 Institutional Books 1.0 (metadata-only version)

Institutional Books is a growing corpus of public domain books. This 1.0 release is comprised of 983,004 public domain books digitized as part of Harvard Library's participation in the Google Books program project and refined by the Institutional Data Initiative. IDI Terms of Use for Early-Access.

• 983K books, published largely in the 19th and 20th centuries
• 242B o200k_base tokens
• 386M pages of text, available in both original and post processed OCR export formats
• 254 unique volume-level languages
• Extensive volume-level metadata, including both original and generated components
• Refined through collection-level deduplication, OCR artifact and text analysis, and OCR text post-processing

The Institutional Data Initiative at Harvard Law School Library works with knowledge institutions—from libraries and museums to cultural groups and government agencies—to refine and publish their collections as data. Reach out to collaborate on your collections.

More information:

• 📄 Full analysis available in our technical report
• 🌐 Website

See also:

• 🗂️ Full version
• ⚙️ Pipeline
• 🏷️ Topic classification model

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Quickstart

from datasets import load_dataset

dataset = load_dataset("instdin/institutional-books-1.0-metadata", split="train")

for row in dataset:
  print(row["title_src"])

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Fields

Suffixes

Suffix	Description
_src	"From source". This field's data comes from information we gathered from the collection itself.
_gen	"Generated". This field's data was generated as part of our analysis / post-processing.
_ext	"External". This field's data was pulled from an external source via a records matching mechanism.

Row-level fields

Field name	Type	Description	Ref. in technical report
barcode_src	String	The volume's barcode. Serves as a primary key/identifier.	3
title_src	String	Merge of all the title-related bibliographic metadata available for this volume.	3
author_src	String	Merge of all the author name-related bibliographic metadata available for this volume.	3
date1_src	String	First available date for that volume. Described in date_types_src. May contain placeholder characters. See MARC 21 specification for details.	4.3
date2_src	String	Second available date for that volume.	4.3
date_types_src	String	Describes the nature of date1_src and date2_src. See MARC 21 specification for details.	4.3
page_count_src	Int	Page count for that volume.	4.2
token_count_o200k_base_gen	Int	Total tokens for that volume's OCR-extracted text, as measured with o200k_base.	4.2
language_src	String	ISO 639-3 code for the main language of this book, as expressed in the collection's bibliographic metadata. Converted from original ISO 639-2B for convenience.	4.4
language_gen	String	ISO 693-3 code for the main language of this book, as detected by our text-level language analysis of the OCR-extracted text.	4.4
language_distribution_gen	Dict	Distribution of the languages detected by our text-level language analysis. Only languages for which more than 1000 o200k_base tokens were detected in total were kept.	4.4
topic_or_subject_src	String	Topic or subject information, as expressed in the collection's bibliographic metadata. Only available for (approximately) half of the collection.	4.5
topic_or_subject_gen	String	High-level "topic" assigned to this volume by our topic classification model. Inferred from existing metadata. One of the Library of Congress' Classification Outline first-level items.	4.5
topic_or_subject_score_gen	Float	Confidence score returned by our topic classification model for this specific prediction.	4.5
genre_or_form_src	String	Genre or form information, as expressed in the collection's bibliographic metadata. Only available for (approximately) 10% of the collection.	4.5
general_note_src	String	Additional notes about this specific volume in the collection's bibliographic metadata.	3
ocr_score_src	Int (0-100)	Primary OCR quality score, as expressed in the collection's metadata.	4.7
ocr_score_gen	Int (0-100)	Secondary OCR quality score, generated by using pleias/OCRoscope on the collection's OCR-extracted text.	4.7
likely_duplicates_barcodes_gen	List	List of barcodes for which the OCR-extracted text is highly-similar to this volume's.	4.6
text_analysis_gen	Dict	High-level text analysis of the OCR-extracted text, both original and post-processed.	4.8
identifiers_src	Dict	List of bibliographic identifiers, as expressed in the collection's metadata.	3
hathitrust_data_ext	Dict	Rights determination data pulled from the Hathitrust API for this volume.	5

Nested: language_distribution_gen fields

Field name	Type	Description
languages	List[String]	List of ISO 693-3 codes. Sorted by prevalence.
proportion	List[Float]	List of percentages. Sorted by prevalence.

Nested: text_analysis_gen fields

Field name	Type	Description	Ref. in technical report
text_by_page_src	Dict	Text analysis data for the original OCR-extracted text.	4.8
text_by_page_gen	Dict	Text analysis data for the post-processed OCR-extracted text.	4.9

Both dicts are shaped as follows when available:

Field name	Type	Description
tokenizability_score	Float (0.0-100.0)	Measure of how close to 1.25 o200k_base token per word this text is.
char_count	Int	Total characters.
word_count	Int	Total detected words (language-aware tokenization).
word_count_unique	Int	Total unique detected words.
word_type_token_ratio	Float (0.0-100.0)	Lexical diversity at word level. May help identify the underlying document type.
bigram_count	Int	Total bigrams.
bigram_count_unique	Int	Total unique bigrams.
bigram_type_token_ratio	Float (0.0-100.0)	Lexical diversity at bigram level. May help identify the underlying document type.
trigram_count	Int	Total bigrams.
trigram_count_unique	Int	Total unique bigrams.
trigram_type_token_ratio	Float (0.0-100.0)	Lexical diversity at bigram level. May help identify the underlying document type.
sentence_count	Int	Total detected sentences.
sentence_count_unique	Int	Total unique detected sentences.

Nested: identifiers_src fields

Field name	Type	Description
lccn	List[String]	List of Library of Congress Control Numbers, if available.
isbn	List[String]	List of International Standard Book Numbers, if available.
ocolc	List[String]	List of OCLC Control Numbers, if available.

Nested: hathitrust_data_ext fields

Field name	Type	Description
url	String	Permalink to that volume on Hathitrust.
rights_code	String	Hathitrust's rights determination code.
reason_code	String	Hathitrust's rights determination reason code.
last_check	String	Date at which that information was pulled from the Hathitrust API.

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Terms of Use for Early-Access

This dataset is an Early-Access release shared by the Institutional Data Initiative for research and public-interest use (the “Service”). These terms are intended to support experimentation while encouraging collaboration and feedback as we refine the dataset and work with contributing institutions to define shared, long-term norms for open data reuse. To share questions or feedback, contact us at [email protected].

By accessing or downloading the dataset or otherwise using the Service, you agree to the following:

1. Noncommercial Use Only
   You may use the Service solely for noncommercial purposes. Open-source projects and other public-use efforts are welcome, even if they may indirectly support commercial use, so long as they are unaffiliated with commercial actors or intent.

   If you are affiliated with a commercial organization or plan to use the Service for commercial purposes (including AI model training), you will contact us first at [email protected].

2. No Redistribution
   You may not share or redistribute the Service or any of the data provided through the Service, in whole or in part, including through public repositories or aggregators. If you want others to access it, please direct them to the attribution link.

3. Derivative Works
   You may create derivative works for noncommercial use, but you may not make available any such derivative works that substantially reproduce the original dataset. Only outputs that are significantly transformed and cannot substitute for the original—such as evaluations, summary statistics, or visualizations—may be shared, with attribution.

4. Attribution
   If you use the dataset in public-facing work, you must include attribution substantially similar to:

   Institutional Books provided by the Institutional Data Initiative with source material contributed by Harvard Library, available at https://institutionaldatainitiative.org/institutional-books.

   Minor modifications to fit citation style or formatting are permitted, provided the essential elements remain intact.

5. Provisional Terms
   These terms apply only to this Early-Access release and may change. We are actively working with contributing institutions to develop a long-term framework for responsible, open data sharing.

6. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
   TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ACCESS TO “SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR OTHERWISE), INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL OPERATE IN AN UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE MANNER OR THAT THE SERVICE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS OR ACHIEVE THE INTENDED PURPOSES; (B) THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXPERIENCE OUTAGES OR OTHERWISE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, OR SECURE; (C) THE INFORMATION OR SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, CURRENT, ERROR-FREE, OR RELIABLE; (D) ANY DEFECTS IN OR ON THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED; OR (E) THAT ANY POLLS OR OTHER SOLICITATIONS OF INFORMATION POSTED THROUGH THE SERVICE BY YOU OR OTHER USERS ARE SAFE OR APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR OR OTHER USERS’ PARTICIPATION. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY REGARDING YOUR ABILITY TO TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SERVICE, AND YOU AGREE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR ABILITY TO ACCESS THE SERVICE MAY BE IMPAIRED.

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   YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, FOR PURPOSES OF THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS, AS WELL AS THE INDEMNITY PROVISION IN SECTION 8 BELOW, THE TERMS “WE,” “OUR,” “US,” “INSTITUTIONAL DATA INITIATIVE,” AND “IDI” INCLUDE THE CORPORATE BODY PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, ALSO KNOWN AS HARVARD UNIVERSITY, AND ITS VARIOUS SCHOOLS, THE MEMBERS OF ITS GOVERNING BOARDS, AND ITS OFFICERS, FACULTY MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, FELLOWS, AND TO THE EXTENT WORKING ON IDI, ITS STUDENTS, CONTRACTORS, AND REPRESENTATIVES.

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Disclaimers

Harmful Language and Content in this Dataset

This dataset is a collection of historical works that reflect the language, culture, and perspectives of their time. Users should be aware that some materials may contain language or portrayals that are outdated, offensive, or harmful today, such as racism, sexism, colonial attitudes, and other forms of discrimination. Some content may include inaccurate information, providing insight into historical contexts that existed at the time of writing. The text is maintained in its original form to retain contextual understanding and facilitate research efforts, but we encourage critical awareness and cultural sensitivity for the creators and/or subjects of the collection. These materials are offered as part of a historical perspective, but should not be considered a stand-alone research collection constructed to give a balanced perspective on any topic.

Harmful Language in Bibliographic Description

Metadata for this collection may contain language that is overtly or implicitly harmful, outdated, or biased, or may by omission fail to represent important perspectives. Metadata may contain language created decades ago. It is common practice within the field of library science to reuse descriptions provided from the creator of the materials. While in some instances this allows communities and individuals to represent their materials in their own words, unexamined use of this practice may mean that racist or other offensive terminologies appear in our description. We also use national standardized terms in our work that can be outdated and harmful. Note that terminology in historical materials and in library descriptions does not always match the language we currently understand to be preferred by members of the communities depicted.

Furthermore, we acknowledge that the act of collecting materials is not always neutral, and the work of describing and classifying library materials is influenced by inherent personal, institutional, and societal biases. Outdated or offensive terminologies may be present in metadata such as subject headings, and harmful language or bias may be introduced by catalogers supplying titles and descriptions. In other cases, books themselves present racist, offensive or otherwise harmful viewpoints in titles or descriptions that are routinely transcribed by catalogers.

Note: Some language in this statement was adopted from Harvard Library’s statement on Harmful Language in Library collections.

Rights Determination Statement

We respect the intellectual property rights of authors, publishers, and other rights holders. While we have taken deliberate steps to include only those volumes for which there is no known copyright restriction, specifically those identified by the HathiTrust Digital Library with a status of “public domain,” “public domain in the United States,” or “CC-Zero,” copyright determinations are complex and context-dependent, and occasionally subject to error.

While this is relatively low risk, some volumes in this dataset may be in the public domain in the United States but still subject to copyright or other rights protections in other jurisdictions. Additionally, the absence of an explicit copyright claim or rights status does not guarantee that a work is in the public domain, either in the U.S. or abroad. Information about the copyright status of individual volumes is provided on a good-faith basis and reflects available data at the time of determination, but we cannot guarantee its completeness or accuracy.

Users of this dataset will be solely responsible for making independent legal assessments about how and where they use the materials. Some uses of materials may also be restricted by trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other such rights or restrictions. It is the user's sole responsibility to consider the possibility that such rights or restrictions may be involved and to secure any needed permissions. If any rights holder believes that a work included in this release is misidentified or improperly included, we welcome contact and will promptly review any concerns. Our goal is to provide broad public access while maintaining respect for intellectual property rights and ensuring responsible data stewardship.

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Cite

@misc{cargnelutti2025institutionalbooks10242b,
      title={Institutional Books 1.0: A 242B token dataset from Harvard Library's collections, refined for accuracy and usability}, 
      author={Matteo Cargnelutti and Catherine Brobston and John Hess and Jack Cushman and Kristi Mukk and Aristana Scourtas and Kyle Courtney and Greg Leppert and Amanda Watson and Martha Whitehead and Jonathan Zittrain},
      year={2025},
      eprint={2506.08300},
      archivePrefix={arXiv},
      primaryClass={cs.CL},
      url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08300}, 
}