DELNET was started at the India International Centre Library in January 1988 and was registered as a society in 1992.

It was initially supported by the National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT), Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India. It was subsequently supported by the National Informatics Centre, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

DELNET has been established with the prime objective of promoting resource sharing among the libraries through the development of a network of libraries. It aims to collect, store, and disseminate information besides offering computerised services to users, to coordinate efforts for suitable collection development and also to reduce unnecessary duplication wherever possible.

DELNET has been actively engaged with the compilation of various Union Catalogues of the resources available in member-libraries.It has already created the Union Catalogue of Books,Union List of Current Periodicals, Union Catalogue of Periodicals,CD-ROM Database,Database of Indian Specialists, Database of Periodical Articles, Union List of Video Recordings, Urdu Manuscripts' Database, Database of Theses and Dissertations, sample databases of language publications using GIST technology and several other databases. The data is being updated in these databases and is growing rapidly. All the DELNET databases have been resident on DELSIS, an in-house software developed on BASISPlus, an RDBMS, the product of Information Dimensions Inc. of USA which has been provided to DELNET courtesy National Informatics Centre, New Delhi.

DELNET provides an array of facilities. DELNET'S relentless efforts in resource sharing have proved extremely effective.
It has contributed a lot towards the modernisation of libraries in India.

DELNET Governing Board Members: 2026-2028

  • Shri K. Jayakumar President I. A. S.
    Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala
    & Former Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Culture
    Govt. of India
  • Dr. S. S. Murthy Vice President Former Director, DESIDOC. Ministry of Defence,
    New Delhi
  • Dr. Sangeeta Kaul Director Director, DELNET
  • Dr. P. R. Goswami Treasurer Former Director(Libraries), Ministry of Culture
    Government of India
    New Delhi
  • Secretary, DST Department of Science & Technology (DST)
    Ministry of Science & Technology
    Govt. of India, New Delhi     Nominee Dr. Pratishtha Pandey Member Head (FIST, PURSE and R&D Infra)
    Department of Science & Technology (DST)
    New Delhi
  • Prof. Uma Kanjilal Member Vice Chancellor
    Indira Gandhi National Open University
    Maidan Garhi
    New Delhi
  • Mr. Pavan Shrikishan Sharma Elected Member Librarian
    Yashaswi Education Society’s International
    Institute of Management Science
    Pune
    Maharashtra
  • Dr. Mohan Laxman Jamdade Elected Member Librarian
    Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, New Law College
    Erandawane, Pune
    Maharashtra
  • Dr. M. Murugan Elected Member Principal
    SRM Valliammai Engineering College
    S.R.M. Nagar, Potheri, Kattankulathur
    Chengalpet Dist.
    Tamil Nadu