Customer service
The Finnish Heritage Agency's Picture Collections, Archaeological Collections and Archive will move to the Collections Centre in Vantaa. The researcher service for the archaeological and picture collections has ended on 30 June 2023. The library services have ended due to the move on 20 December 2024. The customer services of the Finnish Heritage Agency’s archives will continue unchanged at the agency's Sturenkatu premises until the move of the archives in August–September 2025, during which time the archive's customer service will be limited: the move will affect e.g. material delivery times.
Archival materials can be accessed at the Finnish Heritage Agency's researchers’ room by requesting them in advance. Material orders should primarily be made through the Finnish Heritage Agency's Archive Service or by email. The delivery time for materials to the researchers’ room is two weeks, and the researchers’ room is open Thurs–Fri 10am–4pm (closed in July). An appointment must also be made to access digital materials.
Most archival materials are freely available for research. Free access to materials may be restricted by factors such as the condition of the materials, lack of organisation, or confidentiality requirements. Some materials are restricted due to the aforementioned reasons; one such collection comprises the ethnological oral history materials, for which a user permit application must be submitted for research purposes.
Please note that the Finnish Heritage Agency's archives do not have dedicated customer service staff, and we handle information requests in addition to our other duties. We recommend contacting us primarily by email, as we may not always be available by phone. Please make material orders directly through the archive service.
Familiarise yourself with the safe customer service instructions.
Contact information for the archives’ customer service:
- Order materials from the Finnish Heritage Agency's Archive Service
- E-mail: arkisto(at)museovirasto.fi
- Tel. +358 295 33 6090
- Visiting address: Sturenkatu 2a, 00510 Helsinki (Postal address: P.O. Box 913, FI-00101 Helsinki Finland
Opening hours of the research hall: Thursday-Friday 10 am-4 pm.
We kindly request that you make a service appointment two weeks in advance.
Rules of use and material-specific instructions
The rules of the Archives and Information Services and material-specific instructions must be followed when using materials. The rules and instructions are intended to ensure the preservation of materials and smooth service.
Digital materials
The Finnish Heritage Agency's digital archival materials can be browsed online through the public interface of the Archive Service and from the researchers’ room's customer terminals, e.g. through the archive service's researchers’ room interface. Most digital materials can be found in the Finnish Heritage Agency's Archive Service. Metadata and digitised documents for the archive's special materials, such as drawings and maps, can also be found in the MuseumPlus system, which can be browsed in the archive's researchers’ room.
In addition to metadata, the archive service also contains digitised materials. Materials that have been digitised and opened to the public interface can be accessed online. However, some documents have access or display restrictions, so they cannot be opened in the public interface. Restrictions may apply due to personal data contained in the documents, for example. Digitised documents with display restrictions can be accessed at the Finnish Heritage Agency's researchers’ room. It should be noted that, for instance, digitised research reports may contain images, maps or other content protected by copyright. For these, the copyrights belong to the author of the research report and other parties mentioned in the report. Permission from the copyright holder must be obtained for any further use of the content.
If an electronic or microfilmed version of the material exists, it will be used instead of the original material as a general rule. The analog copies of digitized materials are subject to permission. Digital materials can be viewed in the researchers’ room by making an appointment by email.
More information on the Finnish Heritage Agency archive's indices.
Photographic services, copying of archived materials and photography
Digital copies of drawings and maps can be ordered in accordance with the price list. Digitisation of large-scale drawings is usually outsourced, with the costs covered by the customer who placed the order. In such cases, the delivery times and costs for digitisation are determined by the digitisation service provider, but the material handling fee is charged by the hour according to the ASIAKIRJAT section of the Finnish Heritage Agency's price list.
The management of the Finnish Heritage Agency's photographic materials, including archaeological photographs, is the responsibility of the Picture Collections department.
Copying and scanning archival materials is possible, unless prohibited by restrictions related to the condition of the materials, data protection, legislation, usage restrictions, etc. Paid copies/scans of materials can be ordered. Arrangements for copying materials must be made with the staff.
Photography for private use is permitted with a photography permit, unless the aforementioned restrictions apply. A separate form must be filled out to obtain a photography permit, and arrangements for photography must be made with the staff. The use of flash is not permitted, and photography must not disturb other customers.