Customer service
You can view archived materials at the customer service premises of the Finnish Heritage Agency by requesting them for viewing in advance. This request must primarily be made with a material request form or by sending an e-mail to the address provided above. The materials will be delivered to our customer service premises within two weeks.
Most of the archived materials can be browsed freely. Free use of the materials may be restricted by the poor condition of the materials, lack of organisation or confidentiality, for example. Access is limited to some of the materials due to the aforementioned reasons, such as the ethnological materials. To study these materials, you will need to fill in an application form for the use of materials.
Please note that the archives of the Finnish Heritage Agency do not have separate personnel dedicated to customer service, and that we manage the information service alongside our other duties. We recommend that you primarily contact us by e-mail, as we cannot always be reached by phone.
Contact information for the archives’ customer 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)
- Material request form for the archives
Opening hours of the research hall: Thursday-Friday 10am-4 pm.
We kindly request that you make a service appointment two weeks in advance.
Rules of use and material-specific instructions
The use of materials must comply with the rules of use and the material-specific instructions of the Archives and Information Services. These rules and guidelines are intended to ensure the preservation of the material and the smooth running of the service.
Electronic materials
Finnish Heritage Agency also manages materials that are not in paper format. Some of the materials are in a database format in the Cultural Environment service window. In addition to a public version, there is also an extranet version of the service window called the Museum Network, which is intended for museums and other actors in the cultural heritage field. The extranet version can be browsed on the computers at the customer service premises of the Finnish Heritage Agency.
The electronic archive materials can be browsed in the service window or at the customer service premises of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Different research reports and other similar reports related to archaeology, the built environment and ethnology can be viewed in the Database of research reports on the cultural environment: most of the reports are open for public viewing, while others can only be viewed on the computers at the customer service premises or via the Museum Network. The metadata of all reports is public. Please note that the electronic files for the reports may include pictures, maps or other content that is copyright-protected. For these reports, the copyright belongs to the author of the research report and other parties named in the report. The copyright holder must be asked for permission for any possible further use of the content.
You can browse administrative materials, such as statements provided by the Finnish Heritage Agency, in the Case Management Register of the Cultural Environment Division (‘Case Register’) or in the client terminal of the case management system SALAMA. These materials can only be browsed via the closed extranet version at the customer service premises of the Finnish Heritage Agency or via the Museum Network, which is intended for professionals.
The metadata of drawings related to the built environment can be browsed in the service window, and you can view drawings saved in electronic format on the computers at our customer service premises via Musketti.
If an electronic or microfilmed version exists of the materials, these versions are generally used instead of the original materials.
Photographic services, copying of archived materials and photography
You can order digital copies of drawings in accordance with our price list. Large drawings are usually digitised outside of the Finnish Heritage Agency as commissioned work, and the costs are borne by the customer who placed the order. In these cases, the delivery times and price lists for digitisation are determined by the supplier of the commissioned work, but the publication fees are invoiced in accordance with the Finnish Heritage Agency’ price list for photographic services.
The responsibility for managing the picture materials of the Finnish Heritage Agency was for the most part transferred to the Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency in 2011. At present, the archives only manage photographs related to archaeology.
Archived materials may be copied and scanned as long as this is not prevented by restrictions related to the materials’ condition, data protection, legislation, restrictions on use, form, etc. Copies/scans of materials can be ordered for a fee. Users can also personally copy materials at our customer service premises according to our price list.
Digital photography is allowed for private use if the photographer has been granted a photography permit and none of the restrictions referred to above apply. To take photographs, the photographer must apply for a photography permit on a separate form and make a separate agreement about taking photographs with the on-duty employee. The use of flash is not allowed, and the photographing must not disturb other customers.