The task of the library is to create and maintain the conditions for research, teaching and learning at the University of Eastern Finland by acquiring, storing and making available up-to-date information and resources that meet the needs of the university. The library’s resource collections and the library as a space and learning environment are a key part of the teaching, learning and research infrastructure.
In accordance with the Act on Collecting and Preserving Cultural Materials (1433/2007), the library acts as a place for the storage and use of material, i.e. as a legal deposit library. The library is also a European Documentation Centre.
Principles of collection work
The University of Eastern Finland acquires domestic and foreign academic material from the university’s fields of education and research. The collections of the campus libraries are developed based on the teaching and research needs of each campus.
The framework organisation allocates the funds for the acquisition of resources. The library agrees on the general guidelines for acquisitions and the use of the funds together with the faculties and academic subjects. The resources are selected in cooperation with the subjects. The library has a responsibility to ensure that the collections are developed equally, taking into account the needs of the different disciplines.
Selection and acquisition of resources
When making acquisition decisions, the library complies with public procurement regulations and the university’s procurement guidelines.
The collections are accumulated through purchases, by acquiring licences for online resources and by accepting donations. In addition to this, open academic resources that are freely available online are linked to the library’s resource database. Resource donations are accepted when the donation complements the library’s collections (see section Accepting donations).
General principles followed in the acquisition of resources:
- acquisitions are carried out in accordance with public procurement regulations
- the university’s own publications and theses are always added to the collections
- research literature is generally acquired as one copy per title
- resources are acquired in electronic format when possible
Principles followed in the acquisition of course books:
- the library acquires the course books in the degree requirements for its collections
- acquired in electronic format whenever possible
- as a general rule, 1 copy for every 5 students participating in the course, but no more than 30 printed copies
- at least 1 printed copy will be acquired for the reading room or the borrowable collection, in case the book is not available in electronic format
The acquisition and selection of electronic resources are also affected by the following:
- method of acquisition: licence-based (available for a set period of time at a time) or perpetual purchase
- possibility to use based on IP address
- number of simultaneous users
- access to e-resources on all campuses
- possibility of remote access
Use of the collections
The library is an open academic library, and its collections are available to everyone either in the library premises or as home loans.
The online material is available to everyone in the library premises and via the information network to persons belonging to the University of Eastern Finland community. Information on the rights to use the online resources is available on the library’s website.
The printed legal deposit copies are stored in the legal deposit collection unit in Joensuu, from where they are delivered to customers for use at reading rooms. The use of electronic legal deposit copies is possible at the legal deposit workstations at campus libraries.
Information on printed and electronic resources acquired for the collections is entered into the library’s data systems.
More detailed information on borrowing practices and the library’s terms of use are available on the library’s website.
Development of the collections
The collections undergo quantitative and qualitative evaluation to ensure that they fulfil their purpose and the needs of the customers. The library monitors publishing policies, the development of resource formats and systems, the use of the collections and the needs of user groups, and informs customers about new acquisitions.
For the evaluation of the collections, the library
- analyses the accumulation and use of books by discipline
- monitors the use of the resources based on borrowing data
- analyses statistics on the use of electronic resources
Removals are part of the regular maintenance and development of the collections. The results of the evaluation are utilised in the work, and long-term preservation takes into account, above all, the need for use at the university and availability elsewhere. The special characteristics of different disciplines are also taken into account.
Resources on the university’s areas of strength are kept to a sufficient extent for the needs of teaching and research. Outdated and little-used resources are removed from the collections.
The availability of removed resources is ensured by sending them to the National Repository Library if they are not already there.
Accepting donations
The acceptance of donations is decided on by the library. The criterion for accepting donations is the significance of the material for the university’s fields of study and the library’s collections. The library only accepts donations that develop the collections required for the university’s research and teaching activities or complement existing special collections.
The library is not obliged to store and process all donations it receives, and it does not accept donations that include special conditions (e.g. keeping the donation as a whole, picking up donations at the university’s expense). In justified special cases, special arrangements may be agreed between the library and the donor.
Donated publications that are not accepted into the library’s collections are primarily sent to the National Repository Library, sold or destroyed.
Donors are asked to contact the library’s collection services regarding donations of literature.
