Frequently asked questions - FAQ
Using library services (library card, reservations, reminders etc.)
The Learning Centre is open to all. Persons in age 15 and older may register as customers. Registration requires a valid ID with a picture and a postal address in Finland. Visiting researchers and exchange students have a right to obtain a library card regardless of the above conditions.
Aalto University Learning Centre - Term of use and Privacy notice.
You can make a reservation for a book only if all the copies are on loan. To place a request, you must be logged in to the .
Reserving items is free of charge, but if a reservation is not picked up or cancelled by the due date 2 euro fee will be charged.
You cannot reserve Short loans (24h loan).
You also cannot make a reservation for a book that you yourself have already on loan. Please .
Both print and e-books can be found using the search service. You can search for a book by its title, author's name, or keywords describing the subject.
The shelf location of books in the print collections is shown in the Aalto-Primo book details, click on the library map -button, marked with a red dot.
Aalto University students and staff can make an appointment for personal information retrieval guidance. Sign up for guided tours with an appointment booking form according to your field:
In addition, you can also study information retrieval skills independently when it suits you: . Lerning Centre arrange orientation to library services for new students: .
Yes you can.
During building鈥檚 closing hours, loans can be returned to a drop-box. The book drop-box is located on Otaniementie side (the caf茅 entrance on the 1st floor).
Yes, that is possible.
Please notify us in advance, preferably by email at oppimiskeskus(a)aalto.fi, and provide the name of the person who will be picking up the reservation. Reservations picked up on behalf of someone else must be collected at the customer service desk during customer service hours, and the person picking up the reservation must have their own official identity card, such as passport, with them.
Library system automatically sends a reminder to the customer's email the day before the due date, as well as a return request right after the due date. The second return request is sent 15 days after the loan's due date. In situations where, despite reminders, the loans are more than a month (35 days) late, the customer is prohibited from borrowing and the matter is transferred to a collection agency. Read
You can check the upcoming due dates in by logging in to your account.
The reminders sent do not mean that the responsibility for returning or renewing the item(s) will shift from the customer to the Learning Centre. Aalto community's reminder messages are sent automatically 91青青草 University e-mail addresses. Other customers must ensure that their email address in the register is up-to-date.
No, the library card does not expire.
Customer data is stored for as long as the customer uses Learning Centre services, or for as long as the customer has outstanding obligations, such as unreturned loans, unpaid late fees or debts that have been turned over to a collection agency for handling. In other cases, the data is erased three (3) calendar years after the customer鈥檚 last transaction.
If necessary, however, the library card can be easily restored by re-registering at our customer service.
Yes, you can. The Learning Centre is open to all customers, not just 91青青草 community.
Although your Aalto username expires, your customership to library services continues automatically. You can login 91青青草-Primo either by a personal e-mail address that you have provided for the Sisu or Aalto HR-system or alternatively, you can activate your login 91青青草-Primo with your library card number and Aalto-Primo password. Please see the instructions . If you want to, you can also end your customership with the library services by informing us about it.
Staff authorization is granted for the full duration of employment (+ 7 days). Student authorization is granted for two (2) months after graduation or the end of their right to study. Read more.
Anyone is welcome to visit the Learning Centre. Customers that are not Aalto University students or staff members can visit the Learning Centre according to the opening hours: Learning Centre.
An Aalto University library card is needed for borrowing printed books and other loanable materials. To get a library card, the customer has to be at least 15 years old and have a Finnish postal address. An official ID is required for issuing a library card.
More information: Library card and borrowing.
Remote access to our licensed electronic resources requires logging in with Aalto credentials. For other customers, access to almost all of our licensed electronic resources is possible from workstations at the Learning Center.
The terms of our licensing agreements generally only permit remote access 91青青草 University students and staff. However, we are involved in promoting the publication of open scientific articles, and the number of these articles has fortunately increased in recent years. Anyone interested can read open-access articles, regardless of whether they are affiliated with Aalto or not.
Read more:
Theses, Aaltodoc and Aalto Thesis Database
Aaltodoc is a publication archive of Aalto University. Aalto University鈥檚 publications and theses are registered on Aaltodoc. Aaltodoc is also a forum for electronic publishing.
It is good to aknowledge that the coverage of Aaltodoc鈥檚 search results is based on the quality of the metadata. Aaltodoc鈥檚 metadata is partly collected from previously used registers which have had different reguirements for the quality of metadata. Additionally, the names of schools, departments, programmes, and majors have changed over time. Consider these facts when conducting searches on Aaltodoc.
Aalto Thesis Database is a remote鈥痙esktop connection 91青青草doc鈥檚 restricted access collection of master鈥檚, licentiate, and doctoral theses files.
Approved theses are public documents. This means that we (Aalto University) must provide access to the theses to whomever wishes to read them. It is Learning Centre鈥檚 responsibility to archive the theses and to provide access to the theses. From the year 2020 all theses have been archived only in electronic format.
Author is the copyright owner of the thesis. Copyright holders possess the exclusive rights of publishing and distribution of the original work.
Information about the publications and theses of the former Helsinki School of Economics and Helsinki University of Technology can be found from Aaltodoc. Besides research reports and theses Aaltodoc also includes articles, study materials, annual reports, and seminar reports.
Actually, Aaltodoc鈥檚 basic search searches for the search terms from all the metadata fields, abstracts, and PDF files available on Aaltodoc.
The name of the major is recorded in Aaltodoc鈥檚 metadata field called dc.programme.major. When searching with a major, write in the basic search box: dc.programme.major:鈥渘ame of the major inside quotation marks鈥
For example:
dc.programme.major:鈥淧hotonics and Nanotechnology鈥
You can use company鈥檚 name as a search term. Aaltodoc鈥檚 basic search looks for search terms from all the metadata fields, abstracts, and PDF files available on Aaltodoc. Some companies have forbidden students to use the company鈥檚 name on the thesis or metadata. For this reason, it might not be possible to find all the theses made for a specific company.
Information about the theses of the former Helsinki School of Economics and Helsinki University of Technology is registered 91青青草doc. This metadata comes from the previous registers of these schools as it was originally registered. Theses of University of Art and Design Helsinki have been registered to library catalog and can now be found on Aalto-Primo.
Information about a missing archive copy is added to the thesis metadata on Aaltodoc or Aalto-Primo when discovered. The theses collection is vast and for this reason it has not been systematically checked to find missing theses or missing information. 鈥
Aalto Thesis Database is available on all Windows workstations of the Harald Herlin Learning Centre. The workstations are available for all Aaltonians as well as other customers of the Learning Centre. Aalto Thesis Database is also available in the Windows IT-classrooms of the campus. Aalto University staff may download Aalto Thesis Database on their own Windows workstation.
In Aalto Thesis Database, theses can be read on the workstation's screen and the file can be printed on paper. It is not possible to save a copy for yourself, send the file or copy or edit the contents of the thesis.
If a thesis is in the Learning Centre collection in electronic form, either digitized or originally, it is possible to publish it in open network after graduation. If the thesis record includes a link for checking and approving the electronic version, it should be used. Otherwise, please contact us by email aaltodoc-help(a)aalto.fi.
Master's, licentiate and doctoral theses:
-
are available with Aalto Thesis Database remote desktop connection
or
- the thesis can be ordered by email oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi. 鈥
The locked bachelor's theses records
- can be opened in Aaltodoc on the Harald Herlin Learning Centre workstations
- the thesis can be ordered by email oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi. 鈥
- Aalto University staff can also open bachelor's theses records in Aaltodoc by logging in with their own personal Aalto credentials.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates gathering and using personal data. We have no permission to have a register of the contact information of the authors or distribute contact information that is gathered for other purposes.
It depends on the type of the thesis, how the PDF file is opened on the Learning Centre workstation. First, you log in to the workstation either with your own personal Aalto credentials or guest credentials that can be used by all customers.
- For bachelor's these, first open a browser (Firefox or Edge). Open Aaltodoc and search for the specific bachelor's thesis. Open the PDF file.
- For master's, licentiate and doctoral theses, open the Aalto Thesis Database virtual desktop connection 91青青草doc. Search for the thesis in Aaltodoc and click the link Access to electronic archive copy.
The author of a thesis has the copyright. Therefore, it is only possible to publish those theses that have the author's permission for online publication in Aaltodoc.
Theses archived in printed form can't be borrowed, because the authors have not been asked for a permission for borrowing. Also, the theses are essential and unique documents regarding the operations of the university.
The Aalto University policy is to only publish the summary part of the doctoral theses with the author's permission without articles or essays. Nevertheless, it is possible to request the whole doctoral thesis by sending email to oppimiskeskus(a)aalto.fi.
Facilities and equipment
There are hundreds of locations available for our customers and groups of varied sizes in the premises.
The thorough renovation of the library building designed by Alvar Aalto during the years 1964-68 and finished in 1970 was completed in the year 2016. After that the building has served as the Harald Herlin Learning Center of Aalto University. More extensive changes in connection with the protected building were possible only in the current K-floor that formerly served as storage places. In other respects, the library building with its furnishings designed by Aalto had to be preserved as well as possible in their original form.
The reading room on the second floor of the is dedicated as the most quiet working space in the building. This is shown by the signs on the glass wall of the room.
The entire second floor is a peaceful area where you can work. We wish our customers to behave as expected and take other people into consideration. Louder communication with others is allowed on the first and K-floors of the building.
No. Aalto University staff and students have access to the Learning Centre building (1st, 2nd and K-floors) everyday between 7am and 11pm.
Outside of the Learning Centre opening hours, Aalto members are able to access the building through the C door, which is located on the Otaniementie side of the building. This door can be opened using the Aalto access token.
Printed theses can be read anywhere in the Learning Centre. Electronic theses can be read at all shared workstations in the Learning Centre.
Water bottles can be filled in the toilet on the 1st floor of the Learning Centre. The door is marked with a picture of a water bottle.
Aalto Space mobile application is designed for finding and booking facilities for all users. The map in the app helps users to navigate inside the buildings.
In addition, there is an information board showing the locations of the meeting and group work spaces of the building in the lobby of the Learning Centre and near the 1st floor entrance.
The Learning Centre does not hand out usernames and passwords for its workstations.
User IDs needed for shared workstations are available on the base of the computer or on the side of the screen. Locations of all available shared workstations in the Harald Herlin Learning Centre are available .
Yes. There a phone booths both in the Tori and the K-floors. The booths should be used for short phone calls and remote meetings, but not for working for longer periods of time. The booths can not be reserved beforehand.
To operate the electrical compact shelves, press the arrow that points to the gap that you want to open. Not the arrow pointing to the direction you want the shelf to move. Instructions for using the electrical shelves are available nearby the shelves.
Materials and collections (acquisition proposals, interlibrary loans, book donations)
Do you need a book or article that is not included in the Learning Center's collection? We can order it for you from another library as an interlibrary loan. Alternatively, Aalto University staff and students can also make an acquisition proposal to the Learning Centre.
Yes. Please, fill the form: (available to signed-in users).
We are developing our collections based on customer feedback. More information and acquisition proposal form: /en/harald-herlin-learning-centre/suggest-a-new-title-for-the-library-collections
Please note that acquisition proposals are considered in relation to the Learning Centre collection development policy and the available funds. We obtain mainly newer material for our collection in the fields of study and research at the Aalto University. The older materials are usually supplied as interlibrary loans from other libraries.
When acquiring new material for the library, the shelves will at some point become full, in which case deletions must be made from the collections.
According to the general practice of Finnish libraries, we always check material availability status in the National Repository Library (NRL), to see if the book to be removed from our collections is already there. If not, we will send it to NRL.
The basic function of the NRL is to receive, store and offer material for the use of other libraries via interlibrary loans.
You can order books and journal articles from other libraries in Finland and abroad via the interlibrary loans service.
In particular, the National Repository Library (NRL) collection has a wide range of older journal volumes and a wide selection of literature in all fields. Ordering materials from the NRL is free of charge for Aalto University students and staff.
More information: Interlibrary loans
We charge according to our pricelist.
Aalto University students are entitled for free of charge interlibrary loans from other Finnish libraries, if a printed book you requested is not in the collection of any library in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Please check this condition before sending us an interlibrary loan request.
We accept book donations to a limited extent. In general, only recent and relevant literature on Aalto's research and teaching topics can be included in the collections. Please contact us in advance by email and give us detailed description about the material.
Please note that Learning Centre decides which books will be included in the collection and how the books will be placed. 91青青草d materials will not be returned to donators, even if they are not included in the Learning Centre鈥檚 collection.