Statistikk innhold

Statistics on

Academic and special libraries

Statistics on academic and special libraries at Norwegian universities and university colleges, public and private special libraries at research institutes and the National Library. These libraries are designed to provide services to students, teachers, researchers and those at the institution of which the library is part. The statistics show a summary of the activity during the year.

Updated: 2 June 2025
Next update: 2 June 2026

Selected figures from these statistics

  • Academic and special libraries, main results.
    Academic and special libraries, main results.
    2024
    Physical events942
    Digital events61
    Hybrid events257
    Library loans1 183 598
    Man-years per 31.12, in library services1 499
    Number of academic and special libraries99
    Explanation of symbols
  • Collection statistics of a few selected groups of physical and digital resources
    Collection statistics of a few selected groups of physical and digital resources
    All academic and special librariesNational librariesUniversities with faculty and departemental libraryLibraries at scientific collegesLibraries at other collegesSpecial libraries and libraries at health institutions
    Books physical9 467 5601 431 5635 754 391447 787467 8661 365 953
    Books digital11 156 973763 2646 026 9191 408 1272 329 169629 494
    Periodicals physical187 60857 58299 9646 7673 93719 358
    Periodicals digital1 130 1091 496554 412195 244215 656163 301
    Manuscripts physical16 073 75516 000 0006 7834734866 577
    Manuscripts digital1 110 0321 081 8661 582124226 530
    Graphic and cartographic material physical7 147 7237 128 57213 3971 0287204 006
    Graphic and cartographic material digital5 173 9455 150 4326 3702 3264 20710 610
    Musical score documents physical314 036104 807140 55061 8572 8753 947
    Musical score documents digital62 7716 72855 9455147.
    Realia3 603.3 20219411196
    Explanation of symbols
  • Library use
    Library use1
    Number of loans1 Primary loan of realiaDownloads/streaming in totalUnique downloads Open Access articles from paid resources
    All academic and special libraries2 1 183 5989 79228 055 8185 229 696
    Universities with faculty and departemental library607 0918 19320 770 6104 381 687
    Libraries at scientific colleges101 0631 1072 151 650209 908
    Libraries at other colleges202 3043042 105 211285 309
    Special libraries and libraries at health institutions66 2901881 270 115351 375
    1The number of physical loans is the sum of inital loan registration to primary users and others, including interlibrary loans.
    2Academic and special librarys, without the National Libraries.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Figure 1. Number of academic and spesial libraries

About the statistics

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 4 June 2024.

PDA/DDA: Patron Driven Acquisition/Demand Driven Acquisition refers to non-purchased titles that the library offers, meaning titles that can potentially be activated.

Periodicals: Yearbooks, series, report series, regular conference reports and similar publications.

Manuscripts: Original documents of all kinds that are handwritten or typewritten.

Graphic materials: Documents where images constitute the main informational content, such as graphic art, reproductions, art prints, photographs, posters, technical drawings, and similar items. In this statistic, no distinction is made between graphic and cartographic documents.

Cartographic materials: Representations in a reduced scale of a concrete or abstract phenomenon located in time and space. This includes two- and three-dimensional maps, globes, plans, topographic models, relief maps/tactile models, and aerial photographic presentations, but does not include atlases and other cartographic documents in codex form or microform, as well as AV documents. In this statistics, no distinction is made between graphic and cartographic documents.

Musical score documents: Documents that mainly contain the reproduction of music in written form, usually by means of musical notation. They can appear as loose sheets or in codex form.

AV documents: Documents where the content is dominated by sound and/or images and require the use of special equipment to be viewed or heard (e.g., phonograph records, audio tapes, CDs, audiobooks, slides, etc.).

Other library materials: Remaining information-bearing materials such as patents and microforms.

Realia: Non-information-bearing materials that are made available and registered as borrowed. This can include various types of equipment such as AV equipment, devices for reading digital files, various accessories such as chargers and similar items, tools, equipment for recreational activities, etc.

Tasks: The sum of systematic searches and professional support/research.

Primary target group: Individuals and institutions within the library's defined user group as of December 31 in the statistical year.

Employees: The number of permanent employees as of December 31 who work with the library's service offerings.

Man-years: The number of agreed full-time man-years as of December 31 associated with the operation or development of the library services. Man-years in administrative positions related to the operation of library services are included.

Interlibrary lending: Loans/copies to another library under a different administrative unit (e.g., another university). For the borrowing library, this is an incoming loan. Includes the number of received requests, the number of dispatched loans, and the number of dispatched copies to other libraries.

Interlibrary borrowing: Incoming loans are loans from another library under a different administrative unit (e.g., another university). For the lending library, this is an interlibrary loan. It reports the number of dispatched requests, the number of received loans, and the number of received copies from other libraries. Loans from another library under the same administrative unit are not counted as incoming loans.

Based on international standard ISO 2789 (Information and documentation - International library statistics)

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