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Library Services

Printed and e-materials 

You can use MetCat Finna to search for printed and e-materials, make reservations, and renew your loans. You can also find books from Haaga-Helia and Laurea libraries. Licensed online resources can be used on campus, or from home with your Metropolia ID and password.

Journals

You can search for both printed and electronic journals on MetCat Finna

Theses

Theseus contains online electronic theses and publications from Finnish universities of applied sciences. You can also find Metropolia's printed and electronic theses in MetCat Finna.

Printed theses in archives

A selection of the older printed theses has been relocated to the Metropolia Archive. To request access, please send an email to arkisto@metropolia.fi or contact 040 334 5130. Additionally, certain theses from the Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia are located in the Helsinki City Archives.

Collection policy

We develop the collections of the library together with Metropolia staff and students. We accept acquisition proposals and purchase materials according to the following principles.

  • The materials are related to Metropolia’s fields of study and strategic themes.
  • The content is up-to-date and reliable.
  • The material is in Finnish or English

We buy printed materials from vendors who have been selected through competitive tendering. We acquire e-resources through the FinELib consortium and from service providers who can commit to FinELib's licensing policy. 

  • We acquire e-resources that are licensed for the whole organisation. Access must be based on IP addresses or SSO authentication.
  • We do not purchase e-resources under single user licences. We also do not purchase resources that can only be used by a restricted group. 

Books, sheet music and recordings 

We acquire materials both electronically and in print. E-books are available for use either with a Metropolia user ID or openly, according to their terms of use.   

The number of printed materials is increased by cooperation between the 3AMK libraries, interlibrary loans and materials borrowed from the National Repository Library. 

Course books

We purchase the material required for the courses electronically, if possible. 
We aim to purchase unlimited use licences for e-books.  Sometimes, however, the licence has a limit on the number of simultaneous users. In such cases, e-books also have to be reserved and put on hold.  

We are only able to purchase printed course books for some of the course participants. When purchasing printed books, we follow a formula of 3 books per 10 students. Two-week loans improve the availability of course books. 

Journals  

We subscribe to print and electronic journals relevant to the studies. Decisions on subscriptions are made annually.  

Theses 

A paper version will be given to the library only if the work cannot be published in Theseus. We keep paper theses in the library for 5 years.

Collection evaluation and weeding 

The library collections are evaluated and weeded regularly. We also cooperate with the teaching staff when removing printed items from the collections. Removed material is sent to the National Repository Library, from where it can be borrowed. Statistics on usage affect the cancellation of e-resources. Subscriptions may be discontinued based on low use. 

Donations

We accept donations. The selection criteria is the same as for purchased material. Once donated, the material becomes the property of the library and we decide which parts of the donated material will be added to the collection.  

Metropolia publications

Most of the publications are openly available on the Metropolia website. The library is responsible for the self-archiving of non-open access publications by Metropolia staff in Theseus. 

Acquisition proposals

All our customers can make acquisition proposals. Please fill the e-form below.

Acquisition of resources for staff and projects  

We also acquire material for staff members and projects for work purposes. The department or project pays for the resource ordered by the library. These resources are not recorded in the MetCat Finna online service. 

We do not acquire electronic teaching material (teacher’s guides, for example) or new software for a degree programme or a separate project.

Metropolia Library and Information Services | Accessibility Statement