BIBSYS is a supplier of library and information systems for all the Norwegian university Libraries, the National Library of Norway, college libraries, and a number of research libraries and institutions.

BIBSYS is formally organized as a unit at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology , commonly known as NTNU, is located in Trondheim. NTNU is the second largest of the eight universities in Norway, and, as its name suggests, has the main national responsibility for higher education in engineering and technology...

 , localized in Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 is appinted by Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Royal Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research is a Norwegian responsible for education, research and kindergartens. The ministry was established in 1814, and since October 18, 2007 led by Tora Aasland and Kristin Halvorsen in 2009. The department reports to the legislature...

.

BIBSYS offers researchers, students and others an easy access to library resources by providing a variety of search possibilities as well as simple loan and order functions. BIBSYS delivers a range of integrated products for the internal operation of research and special libraries, as well as providing easy access to the libraries’ collections, whether they are electronic or paper documents.

Their products and services are developed in cooperation with the institutions.

BIBSYS: The organization

BIBSYS began in 1972 as a collaborative project between The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Library (Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Bibliotek), the Norwegian Institute of Technology Library (Norges Tekniske Høgskoles Bibliotek) and the Computer Centre at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (Regnesenteret NTH). The purpose of the project was to automate internal library routines.

Since 1972 BIBSYS has evolved from a library system supplier for two libraries in the town of Trondheim, to developing and operating a national library system for Norwegian research and special libraries. The target group has also expanded to include the customers of research and special libraries, by providing them easy access to library resources.

BIBSYS is a public administrative agency answerable to the Ministry of Education and Research, and administratively organised as a unit at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). In addition to BIBSYS Library System, the product portfolio consists of BIBSYS Ask, BIBSYS Brage, BIBSYS Galleri and BIBSYS Tyr. All operation of applications and databases is performed centrally by BIBSYS.

BIBSYS can also offer a range of services, both in connection with their products and separate services independent of the products they supply.