The Joensuu Campus Library has several special collections. They mainly comprise of material related to humanities and theology, and the most remarkable ones are the extensive collection of Finnish editions and translations of Kalevala and the collection of Karelia material.
The Kuopio Campus Library has the donation collection of A. I. Virtanen.
Some of the special collections have been catalogued into the UEF Primo database. The collections are mainly for reading room use inside the library facilities.
Special collections
A.I. Virtanen collection
The library of the academician Artturi Ilmari Virtanen was donated to the University of Kuopio in 1985. Virtanen had been the long-term director of the Valio biochemical laboratory and had compiled a personal library within the institute. The collection comprises 1200 monographs and 146 shelf metres of periodical journals. It comprehends the most important parts of chemistry and microbiology literature of its time and plenty of works from other fields, such as agriculture, nutritional physiology and nutritional chemistry, environmental protection and medical sciences
A. I. Virtanen’s library reflects the life’s work of a remarkable scientist and the development of a field of science, thus making it a unique collection in Finland and a part of the Finnish educational history. Finland’s only Nobel prize library, the AIV collection, is part of the protection of nationally significant cultural property act.
The AIV collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database. Borrowing the material can be separately agreed with the customer service.
The collection donated to the University of Joensuu Library in the year 2000 by the archbishop Johannes (Johannes Wilho Rinne, 1923–2010) of Finnish’s Orthodox Church contains mainly theological literature. It has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and is available for regular library use.
The professor of the universities of Helsinki and Tartu, historian A. R. Cederberg’s (1885–1948) book collection is focused on the history of the countries in the Baltic region. The collection was donated originally to the Historical-Linguistic Library of the University of Helsinki in 1948, from where it was signed over to the University of Joensuu Library in 1995. The collection is located in the Joensuu Campus Library’s Avola storage room and it is meant for reading room use. The books are currently being catalogued into the UEF Primo database.
The collection gathered by academician Martti Haavio (1899–1973) contains literature from the fields of folklore and folkloristics. The collection was donated to the University of Joensuu Library by the heirs of Martti Haavio and his second wife, academician Aale Tynni-Haavio in the year 1998. The books have been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and they are located in the Siimes storage. The collection’s oldest literature is located in the Tomula storage room. The material is available for reading room use.
The collection located in the Joensuu Campus Library consists of Kalevala titles and studies regarding Kalevala and is one of the most complete ones of its kind in Finland. It contains approximately 600 different versions of Kalevala in about fifty different languages. It is based on the rudimentary collection of Kalevala titles, gathered by lecturer Aarre Vuorjoki and indexed into a print catalogue. The entire Kalevala collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database, and it is continuously complemented with donations and purchases. The collection is for reading room use.
The collection of Karelia-themed literature is based on the book donation by Karjalaisen Kulttuurin Edistämissäätiö (a foundation to promote Karelian culture), and it contains also Iivo Härkönen’s collection of material regarding Karelia. The collection comprises mainly research and memoir literature and prose literature regarding the Karelia region outside the Finnish borders, and it is extended continuously – all the essential new Karelia-themed literature is intended to be acquired for the collection.
The material has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and meant for only reading room use.
The University of Joensuu received Chancellor Paavo Ravila’s (1902–1974) book collection in 1974. The collection mainly includes literature concerning linguistics and literary studies, focusing on the research of Finno-Ugric languages. The collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and is available for reading room use.
The book collection of Karelian literature gathered by the University of Joensuu Professor Hannes Sihvo (1942–2003) was donated to the University of Joensuu Library in the year 1996. The material in the collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and is available for reading room use with a special permit.
Finland’s Orthodox church board presented the University of Joensuu Library with the collection to be preserved and used in 1993. It includes Orthodox theological literature and general literature. The older material is mostly written in Church Slavonic and Russian, while the newer material is in Finnish, English and other languages. For the main part, the collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database. The collection and its card index are located in Siimes. The material is available for reading room use.
The collection was received as a donation from a former seminary in Kuopio. It contains literature of theology and other fields of science, mostly written in Finnish. A part of the collection remains uncatalogued in the Siimes storage of the Joensuu Campus Library (card index of the collection is in the Liukula storage). The theological part has been incorporated into the library’s collections and catalogued into the UEF Primo database. The material is for regular library use.
This collection was formed by transferring books from different instances, such as the book collections of Siikasalmi School of Agriculture, donations of Bishop Aleksi and the old study materials of the UEF Library’s own collections. All of the material has been printed before the year 1981. The collection has been catalogued into the UEF Primo database and is for regular library use.
The Tomula storage room of the Joensuu Campus Library contains collections of old books printed before the year 1900, along with plenty of old prose literature. The collections are extended through transfers and donations. For instance, some of the literature has been received as donations through appeals to establish the University of Joensuu Library and to extend its collections. The collections are catalogued into the UEF Primo database and are available for reading room use.
Microfilms
- Catalogue of microfilms received by the history department of the University of Joensuu from the National Archives of Sweden
- Catalogue of microfilms received by the history department of the University of Joensuu from the National Archives of Finland
- Archives of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission
- Newspapers and magazines
- Miscellaneous
- Kaiserliches Gouvernment Zentralbureau Windhoek
- African resources
- African resources
- African resources
- Tanganyika Notes and Records
- World Microfilm Publication in association with The Labour Research Department
- British Labour History Ephemera 1880-1900