Customer service
The services of the Finnish Heritage Agency Picture Collections, Library and Archives are available to anyone interested in cultural heritage.
The self-service library is open Tue–Fri 9:00–16:00. The customer service staff of the library is present Tue–Thu 10:00–16:00. The library is closed on Mondays and throughout July. Customers can reserve materials in advance through the Helka database, but the open collections of the library are available also without reservation.
The archives’ customer service desk is open Thu–Fri 10:00–16:00 by reservation and closed Mon–Wed and throughout July.
The Finnish Heritage Agency’s picture collections, archaeological collections and archives will move to the Collections and Conservation Centre in Vantaa. The original materials in the picture collections and archaeological collections will not be available for loan in 2024 and 2025. The researchers’ hall and offices at the Sturenkatu premises in Helsinki closed the doors on 30 June 2023. The researchers’ office of the archives operates by appointment. The researcher service for archaeological and picture collections ended on 30 June 2023. The information service on the collections will continue to the extent possible during the move.
The customer services of the Archives and the Library will continue as usual at Sturenkatu.
The customer services of the Press Photo Archive JOKA and the Finnish Maritime Museum’s Picture Collection will continue as normal at the Collections and Conservation Centre.
Customers also have access to over 240,000 digital images contained in the picture collections and 27,000 digital images of artefacts in the archaeological collections, available through the Finnish Heritage Agency's Finna service.
The aim is to open the customer service for the Finnish Heritage Agency’s picture collections, archaeological collections and archives in early 2026 in the new customer service facilities at the Agency’s Collections and Conservation Centre.
SAFE DISTANCES
We will ensure that visitors are able to keep safe distances from other visitors as well as our staff in the customer service premises. We will keep a distance of 2 metres from all customers. Personal guidance on using the materials will be provided from a safe distance. Please maintain safe distances also when moving about elsewhere in the premises.
HAND AND COUGHING HYGIENE
Our customer service personnel follow the instructions provided about hand hygiene and coughing hygiene. Please do the same!
PLEASE VISIT ONLY WHEN YOU ARE HEALTHY
If you feel ill, please stay home until you have made a full recovery.
Contact information of the Collection and Information Services
To request materials for viewing, you will need to fill out a material order form in advance online. The request fulfilment time is two weeks, meaning that you can reserve a time for viewing the requested materials no earlier than ten business days from submitting the request.
Materials subject to a work permit
A work permit is required for accessing archaeological artefact collections. Permits are granted for scientific research work. Access to picture or archive material and publications whose handling is restricted due to data security reasons or their fragile state is also subject to a permit. You can submit a permit application by filling in the permit form, printing it out, scanning it and sending it as an email attachment. Application form for the use of materials should be submitted to the relevant Customer Service of the material from the collection you wish to have access to.
Information services of the National Museum of Finland
The service related to historical and ethnographic artefact collections of the National Museum of Finland and the Museum of Cultures as well as the Coin Cabinet is located in the National Museum.
The collection service of the artefact and archive collections of the Maritime Museum of Finland is located at the Maritime Centre Vellamo in Kotka. The Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency take care of the Finnish Maritime Museum’s Picture Collection.
Some of the collection information of the National Museum of Finland has been digitised and opened up in Finna.
Viewing the original collection indices and other materials must be agreed in advance. Should anyone wish to gain access to the artefacts for research or other justified purposes, an artefact handling permit application must be filled in with the help of the staff responsible for the respective collection.