Bibliothèque – Université Laval

What Bibliothèque – Université Laval does

Bibliothèque – Université Laval is the library system of Université Laval, a French-language public research university in Quebec City, Canada, established in 1852. The library serves the university's academic community — undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers, and staff — as well as external researchers and visitors. Core service offerings span physical study spaces across two main pavilions (Pavillon Jean-Charles-Bonenfant and Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon), a smaller reading room at the École d'architecture, and Bibliothèque La Fabrique at the École d'art et École de design, alongside digital resource access, research methodology support, and bibliographic instruction. Approximately 150 public computers and 8 team work rooms support on-site use. The library is publicly funded through Université Laval's institutional budget and operates without a commercial pricing model; all core services are free to the university community.

The library operates multiple digital platforms built on a combination of in-house development and open-source technology. Sofia is a bilingual federated search tool shared across Quebec university libraries through the PBUQ network. CorpusUL is the institutional open-access repository hosting 5,625 peer-reviewed articles, theses, and research reports. Open Journal System (OJS), developed by the Public Knowledge Project, supports the publishing workflow for 18 Université Laval scholarly journals. GéoIndex is a shared geospatial data platform providing discovery and visualization of population, fauna, and flora data across Quebec; Géophoto holds 710,256 digital aerial photographs. Kalos hosts digital collections including photographs, historical maps, music, and films. Supporting infrastructure includes Centre GéoStat for geographic and statistical resources, the Louis-Marie Herbarium, the Bureau du droit d'auteur (copyright office), and persistent identifier services for ORCID, DOI, and ROR. The library integrates third-party tools including Covidence for knowledge synthesis projects, EndNote and Zotero for reference management, LibCal (Springshare) for room reservations, and analytics services (Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity). Live chat support is provided through Comm100.

As a department of a public university, the library is funded through institutional budget allocation and does not generate commercial revenue. The "customer" base is the Université Laval community — students, faculty, and researchers — who access all services without charge, plus external researchers and visitors with limited access to specialized collections. The library operates within several consortium arrangements that create scale and shared infrastructure: the Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (PBUQ) for federated discovery and resource sharing, the Réseau Circé (funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec) for Diamond open-access journal publishing, the ORCID Canada Consortium for researcher identifiers, and a contributing-funding relationship with Érudit for open-access dissemination. Marketing and outreach operate through the institutional website, social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube), an email newsletter, training sessions and workshops, and physical and virtual exhibitions such as "Champignons – La révolution des fonges" and "Mondes inuit, d'hier à aujourd'hui."

Name

Bibliothèque – Université Laval

Legal name

Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval

Website

https://bibl.ulaval.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bibliothèque – Université Laval is the library system of Université Laval, a public research university in Quebec City. It provides academic information services, digital repositories, geospatial platforms, scholarly journal publishing support, and research methodology assistance to students, faculty, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Libraries and Archives (519210), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Research Library Operations (College/University Libraries) (EDAEAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF), Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE), Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ), Library & Learning Space Managed Operations (Circulation, Scheduling, Staffing) (EDAEALAL)

Keywords

• Academic library services
• Research support services
• Scholarly publishing platform
• Institutional repository
• Digital collections

Headquarters

HQ city

Québec

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bibliothèque – Université Laval operates the library system of Université Laval, providing academic information services through physical collections, study spaces, and multiple digital platforms including the Sofia federated search tool, CorpusUL open-access institutional repository, GéoIndex geospatial platform, Kalos digital collections, and OJS journal publishing system. Supporting services encompass research data management, bibliometrics, persistent identifier services (ORCID, DOI, ROR), knowledge synthesis methodology support, copyright advisory, and discipline-specific liaison librarian guidance. All services are provided free of charge to members of the Université Laval community.

Product overview

Bibliothèque – Université Laval is a university library system providing integrated information services to the Université Laval academic community. The core offering combines physical and digital resource access through federated search (Sofia), institutional repositories (CorpusUL), geospatial platforms (GéoIndex), and digital collections (Kalos). Supporting services include journal publishing via Open Journal System (OJS), bibliometric analysis, research data management, persistent identifier support (ORCID, DOI, ROR), knowledge synthesis services for systematic reviews, copyright advisory services, geographic statistics (Centre GéoStat), and physical study spaces. Subject-specific guides and citation support round out the service portfolio, positioning the library as both a digital content provider and research methodology partner.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CorpusUL: Institutional repository of Université Laval containing open access publications, theses, and research data.
• Kalos
• GéoIndex
• Sofia
• Herbier Louis-Marie

Products and services

• Sofia Bilingual federated search tool common to all Quebec university libraries, enabling discovery of physical and digital documents including books, periodicals, articles from databases, theses, audiovisual materials, and sound recordings. Used by students, faculty, and researchers to search across Quebec university library collections.
• CorpusUL Institutional repository of Université Laval containing open-access publications by faculty and researchers including articles, books, research reports, and theses. As of January 2025, it housed 5,625 articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
• GéoIndex Shared geospatial data platform for Quebec universities, enabling discovery, visualization, and download of data on population, wildlife, and flora distribution across territory. Used by researchers across Quebec universities for geospatial analysis.
• Kalos Digital collections platform providing access to photographs, images, ancient maps, online music, and selected films from Université Laval and partner institutions. Used for cultural heritage research and general public access to digitized collections.
• Open Journal System (OJS) Journal publishing and peer-review management platform supporting 18 Universit\u00e9 Laval peer-reviewed journals, from manuscript submission through production and dissemination. Supports the Diamond open access model through the Réseau Circé partnership.
• Bibliometric and Research Impact Services Services measuring research performance including h-index indicators, journal impact factors, citation analysis, and researcher visibility optimization. Targeted at faculty and researchers at Université Laval.
• Research Data Management Support for research data lifecycle including data management plan drafting, data preservation, and data sharing compliance. Provided to Université Laval researchers.
• Persistent Identifier Services (ORCID, DOI, ROR) Services helping researchers create and manage persistent identifiers (ORCID for person, DOI for publications, ROR for institutions) to link researchers to their work. Provided through membership in the ORCID Canada Consortium.
• Knowledge Synthesis Services Expert support for systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and rapid reviews, including search strategy development, reference management in Covidence, and PRISMA diagram generation. Targeted at Université Laval faculty and graduate students conducting research syntheses.
• Copyright Office (Bureau du droit d'auteur) Advisory service on copyright matters for teaching, learning, and research, including guidance on open-access content use and Creative Commons licensing. Available to Université Laval faculty, students, and staff.
• Workspace and Computer Access Physical study spaces including team rooms accommodating up to 8 people each, individual study rooms, and approximately 150 public computers with various software applications across the Jean-Charles-Bonenfant and Alexandre-Vachon pavilions.
• Citation Support Services Guidance on citation principles, bibliographic styles (APA, Vancouver, footnote styles), and reference management tools including Diapason. Targeted at students writing academic papers and theses.
• Herbier Louis-Marie The Louis-Marie Herbarium database providing access to botanical specimen collections and associated research data. Used by botanists and researchers across Quebec universities.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (PBUQ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe PBUQ is a partnership of Quebec university libraries that enables resource sharing and collaborative services across the province. The Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval participates in this network, which provides shared infrastructure including the Sofia search tool.
• Réseau CircécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA Quebec research and mutualization network for scholarly journals, funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (FRQ). The Bibliothèque participates in this network, particularly through the Libraries pole led by PBUQ, supporting the Diamond open access model for journals.
• ÉruditminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA major Quebec scholarly publishing platform. The Bibliothèque contributes funding to Érudit for open access dissemination of research publications.
• Consortium ORCID-CAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerORCID Canada Consortium for researcher identifier services. The Bibliothèque, as a member, encourages Université Laval researchers to create ORCID IDs for linking research activities and publications.
• Public Knowledge Project (PKP)coreTechnology or IntegrationPKP at Simon Fraser University developed the Open Journal System (OJS) software used by the library to support 18 Université Laval scholarly journals.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Bibliothèque de l'Université de Sherbrooke: Library of Université de Sherbrooke, a PBUQ member. Comparable Quebec French-language university library participating in the same federated search, geospatial, and shared-service network.
• Bibliothèque de l'Université de Montréal: Library system of Université de Montréal, the other major French-language research university in Quebec. Directly comparable as a research university library sharing the Sofia federated search tool via PBUQ and serving analogous academic functions.
• McGill University Library: Library system of McGill University, also a PBUQ member in Montreal. Comparable as a major Canadian research university library supporting extensive scholarly publishing, research data services, and bilingual collections.
• University of Ottawa Library: Library of the University of Ottawa, a PBUQ member. Comparable as a major bilingual Canadian research university library with extensive digital collections, institutional repository, and scholarly publishing support.
• UBC Library: Library system of the University of British Columbia, another large Canadian research university. Comparable in operating Open Journal Systems, institutional repositories, knowledge synthesis support, and research data management services at scale.
• University of Toronto Libraries: Library system of Canada's largest research university. Comparable in breadth of digital services, scholarly publishing infrastructure, geospatial data support, and stewardship of substantial heritage and special collections.
• Concordia University Library: Library of Concordia University in Montreal, a PBUQ member. Comparable as a Quebec university library sharing the Sofia search tool and serving bilingual research and teaching communities.
• UQAM Bibliothèque: Library of Université du Québec à Montréal, a PBUQ member. Directly comparable Quebec French-language university library sharing federated search and open access publishing infrastructure.

Regional players

• Library and Archives Canada: Canada's federal library and archive. Comparable as a national-scale information steward supporting scholarly research, persistent identifier infrastructure, and heritage digitization that complement university-level services.
• Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ): Quebec's national library and archival institution. Comparable in stewardship of heritage collections, digital preservation, and serving as a regional hub for cultural and scholarly content that overlaps with Université Laval's specialized holdings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpJsCI1-k4cLJU3zq_ZVmKw
• Facebookfacebook.com/bibliotheque.ulaval
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/biblioth%C3%A8que-de-l-universit%C3%A9-laval
• Instagraminstagram.com/bibliotheque.ulaval

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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