Working in the library

Using our collections sometimes means you have to use microfilm readers and legal deposit workstations. Sometimes, the only way to see a piece of material is to read it at our reading rooms or listening room instead of the traditional home loan.

Index

    Library terminals

    Library terminals are available to you in many places in the library. They are primarily intended for the use of library databases and electronic materials. You can print pdfs from the library terminals with Unigrafia's Print in City -service. You can also plug in a USB memory stick into library terminals.

    You do not need any login ID or passwords for accessing the library search service through the terminals. You can login with your Helsinki university account and print with your personal print card.

    You also do not need to login in order to use the digitised materials through the customer terminals, Such materials include, among others, digitised newspapers and journals, ephemera, works not subjected to copyright available in the publication archives (Doria, Helmi, Raita), dissertations by the Royal Academy of Turku, collection of parchment fragments.

    If you need help, our staff is happy to instruct you in the use of library devices and software. If you need help for using your own devices, please contact the University of Helsinki's Helpdesk. University of Helsinki students and staff can use the terminals to log in to their personal user accounts with their University IDs.

    University of Helsinki Helpdesk (Helpdesk)

    Print in City (Unigrafia)

    Wireless network

    Wireless network

    Eduroam is the secured wireless network for universities, research institutes, schools and other institutions.

    HelsinkiUni Guest visitor network is available at the National Library. Visitors can join by using the general password uniguest.

     

    Reading rooms and listening room

    Visitors to the National Library have four reading rooms at their disposal (theSouth Hall reading room, the North Hall reading room, the reading room of the Slavonic Library and the Special Collections Reading Room) as well as reading desks in the Rotunda, the Aquarium, the Slavonic Library and the Music Library.

    In the reading rooms, visitors can work and use items from the collections which cannot be released on loan.

    About the reading rooms

    • The South Hall and the North Hall are available for all visitors.
    • The reading room of the Slavonic Library is intended exclusively for studying the collections of the Slavonic Library.
    • The Special Collections Reading Room is reserved for researchers who have ordered items to be delivered to the reading room, or who must access the catalogues or reference resources in the Special Collections Reading Room.

    Copies of sound recordings in the National Library’s collections can be delivered to the listening room of the Music Library upon request.

    More info on availability of material

     

    Microfilm readers

    The microfilm materials available in the microfilm reading room (North Hall) without special order include the microfilms of all Finnish newspapers up to 1945. The microfilms of regional newspapers since 1946 can be ordered from the storage with two days delivery time. You can place requests on microfilms that are located in the storage via Search Service

    You can place requests on microfilms that are located in the storage via search service.

    The microfilms of major newspapers published in the capital city area, such as Helsingin sanomat, Hufvudstadsbladet and Demari, are available up until the "current day". The newspapers are microphotographed in Mikkeli, so the delay is about 2 months. With regard to foreign newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Guardian are available fully and without a special order. NY Times is available from the year 1950, years prior 1950 can be ordered from the storage.

    Our library does not have the day's newspapers.

    The microfilm materials available without special order also include American Finnish newspapers, military newspapers, a wide range of older volumes of recreational journals, and some of the most used old newspapers and periodicals of the Slavonic Library.

    Old phone catalogues and address books have been recorded on microfiche and they are immediately available to our customers.

    The available microfilm materials also contain literature from the Swedish era and plenty of other monographs from our Fennica collection on microfilms.

    The microfilm readers are located in the North Hall. There are ten workstations. In addition to browsing the materials, the workstations can be used for scanning the microfilm contents onto your own mass storage device, such as a memory stick. Printing on paper is also possible. There is also possibility to make a reservation for the microfilm readers via the North Hall customer service. Our personnel will help you with the use of workstations.

     

    Printing and saving

    Library terminals have a printing option with the UniGrafia's Print in City service. Helsinki University staff and students use library terminals for Helsinki University account login. You can also plug in a USB memory stick into some of our computers.

    In addition to copying and printing, our multifunctional copy machines enable you to scan pages and send them to your email.

    An overhead book scanner is available for use in the facilities of the Slavonic Library and it can be used free of charge. Scans created with the device can be stored on a USB flash drive or sent to an email address. In the latter case, it is recommended that only a few pages be sent at a time because the files may be large.

    Due to copyright-related reasons, electronic copies cannot be made on the workstations of cultural materials (the legal deposit workstations). However, paper copies are possible.

    You can buy USB memory sticks at the Rotunda information service point.

    See also Reprographic Service

    Further information:

    Library´s customer service
    +358 (0)2941 23196
    National Library of Finland

    More information on customer service

      Rules of the National Library of Finland

      The mission of the National Library of Finland is to support research, teaching and learning. The National Library is open to all. Instructions for using the Library and handling its resources are provided in the facilities of the Library and on its website..