PPI = Pixels per inch = the number of pixels per inch in screen/scanner file terms. Now you said "As i understand it 300 DPI is the typical for 'small' artworks (esp. for clean text resolution)" -- here you're confusing DPI with PPI (often done.) Raster artwork for print is generally scanned at 300 PPI. Why?
DPI also comes into play when converting a printed item to a digital format. The higher the DPI when an image is scanned, the higher quality it will be on screen. In general, photo quality is considered to be a 200 DPI scan at actual size. Consider using a higher scan DPI if you plan to enlarge or reprint an image. Megapixel
That’s it’s only significance. For example, if you have a 3000×2000 pixel image, with an embedded DPI value of 300 DPI, whatever image editor you’re using will tell you that your print from that image, if physically printed at the embedded DPI value of 300, will be 10×6.67 inches.

Scan resolution, hardware. Up to 600 x 600 dpi (color and mono, ADF); Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi (color and mono, flatbed) Enhanced scanning resolution. Up to 1200 dpi. Duty cycle (daily) Recommended daily duty cycle: 3000 pages (ADF) Bit depth. 24-bit (external), 48-bit (internal) Automatic document feeder scan speed.

The scanners resolution is also by inch. So the scanner is capable of much more pixels than you can handle. Also Note for future reference the difference between say 150 dpi file output and 200 is big but the difference between 200 and 300 is not that big. 200 can work quite well and the difference between 250 and 300 is not much at all.
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200 dpi vs 300 dpi scanning