Online use of culture and science broke new records in 2021

The Finna.fi search service increased its popularity significantly in 2021, recording nearly four million visits. Compared to the previous year, the number of visits went up by a whopping 32%. 

The rich materials of Finna.fi introduced visitors to science, culture and learning. In 2021, visitors typically searched for books and articles, watched films and explored archived treasures. Theses of higher education institutes were also accessed frequently. 

As in previous years, photos were by far the most popular materials. They were accessed more than six million times.

Expanding searches and new materials

The increased popularity can partly be explained by new visitors who have transferred to the national Finna.fi service from other search services. 

“Finna is used by 421 organisations that have more than 100 online services based on Finna’s digital solution. Users increasingly find their way from these online libraries or museums’ search services to the national Finna.fi service, which offers more extensive searches,” says Erkki Tolonen, Head of Development at the National Library of Finland. 

Tolonen sees constantly increasing and diversifying materials as another factor behind the growing number of visits. 

“Museums have made huge volumes of new collections available online. In addition, Finna.fi has grown through new scientific materials such as Finnish science journals.” 

Finna – a valuable data repository for society

The value of the Finna.fi service has also been noted by the Ministry of Education and Culture, which provides funding for the service. 

“What is especially wonderful is that the shared Finna service for cultural heritage materials is constantly developing and is found by new users. It is important to ensure that this valuable data repository for society is preserved long into the future,” says Antti Kurvinen, Minister of Science and Culture, in the ministry’s media release published in December. 

Finna.fi will continue its growth this year, as it will be supplemented by several new museum treasures. 

Top 10 most popular material providers in 2021: 

1. National Board of Antiquities 

2. National Library of Finland 

3. Helsinki City Museum 

4. National Audiovisual Institute 

5. National Archives of Finland 

6. National Museum of Finland 

7. Museum Centre Vapriikki 

8. University of Jyväskylä 

9. Finnish Forest Museum Lusto 

10. Museum Centre of Turku 

Key figures of the Finna.fi service in 2021: 

• Home to cultural and scientific material in Finland. 
• Developed by the National Library in cooperation with 421 archives, libraries and museums. 
• 3.8 million visits. 
• 18.2 million accessed pages. 
• 8.2 million searches. 
• 17.5 million materials, of which 2.5 million are directly accessible online. 

Further information:  
Erkki Tolonen, Head of Development, the National Library of Finland, tel. +358 50 576 2869, erkki.tolonen(at)helsinki.fi

A photo of skiers in Pallastunturi in the late 1960s. Volker von Bonin/National Board of Antiquities, Historical Picture Collection. CC BY 4.0.