Preservation activities
The National Library’s Centre for Preservation and Digitisation is responsible for preservation methods and their development in the Library. These encompass preparation, microfilming, digitisation and conservation. The National Library’s Preservation Policy was completed in 2009 under the Centre’s direction.
The main focus of the Centre’s preservation activities is to preserve Finnish publications for future generations and to enable access for researchers and others in need of information. Additionally, the preservation obligation covers other cultural heritage collections in the Library’s possession. Over time, the materials face many threats, e.g., acidifying paper and erosive use.
The Centre for Preservation and Digitisation uses microfilming to produce surrogate copies of items in poor condition. The use of surrogate copies protects the original materials from erosion. Additionally, microfilming is a long-lasting preservation method; the lifespan of microfilm is several centuries. Prior to microfilming, the originals are taken in at the preparation unit, where the materials are prepared for microfilming and bibliographic metadata is gathered and added to the databases.
Conservation is used to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage materials. Both preventative and interventive conservation are used to maintain the material in optimal condition and to reduce the deterioration of the material.
The Centre also offers preservation services for external customers.
Microfilm Services
List of the newspapers being filmed
