Qalamos is the portal for manuscripts and block prints from Asian and African script traditions. It contains approximately 150,000 datasets describing 110,000 physical objects written in 162 languages and 81 scripts (as of June 2022). Qalamos aims at providing metadata and digitized copies of all collections kept in German institutions. In addition, the portal also includes holdings of international cooperation partners.

The three central modules of the database are manuscripts, persons, and works. The manuscript datasets contain information on the title, author, and content of a text, as well as on the materiality of the object. In addition, they provide information about the provenance of the manuscript. The persons module comprises authority records of authors, copyists, previous owners, and other individuals connected to a manuscript. Via the title datasets available in the works module, users can search Qalamos for available copies of a work in addition to commentaries, translations, and other expressions.

The DFG-funded project Orient-Digital (project duration 2020–2023) develops the portal in collaboration with Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Rechenzentrum der Universität Leipzig.