Finland: The Finna.fi service places educational resources at the disposal of those thirsting for knowledge

NordenBladet — Finna.fi search services, which brings together Finnish cultural and scientific material, now offers new opportunities for learning. Educational resources are available for use openly and free of charge. Finna is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The millions of treasures on Finna.fi now include open educational resources. Anyone can use these to increase their knowledge of artificial intelligence or the development of working life, or to improve their language skills. The educational resources are freely available for use. Users can utilise them for improving their own skills, in studies or in the work of a teacher. Much of the material can be edited for personal needs.

–  The availability of pedagogically produced information, independently from time and place, is increasingly more important as people develop their own competencies. The open study material serves all those thirsting for knowledge and meet the needs of continuous learning, says Special Adviser Tomi Kytölä from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Educational resources are produced by individual teachers and members of projects financed with public funds. The material is collected in Finna from the continuously supplemented Library of Open Educational Resources, the service used for sharing and storing the material.

Searches are easy Users can search for educational resources in two ways. They can be browsed on a specific tab  that includes diverse features for narrowing your search. Searches can be directed according to all levels and subjects of education, degrees and qualifications or fields of science.The study material can also be found with a search on the front page, which displays the full offering of Finna.fi at the same time.

Finna is an even more comprehensive learning service than before

As a search service, Finna includes an abundance of material for learning and teaching.The service can be used to study university theses and scientific articles available online. The search also helps users find plenty of historical material, such as videos and freely available photographs and maps. People interested in literature can check the availability of books at various libraries in one go.Teachers have already been able to use the Finna Classroom service aimed at comprehensive schools and upper secondary schools. Material packages in Classroom are based on a selection of museums and archives, as well as pedagogic assignments prepared by teachers.Educational resources and other material can be taken into use in different learning services, such as learning platforms, by utilising Finna’s interfaces.

Try out the new search for educational resources

Further information:
– Head of Development Erkki Tolonen, National Library of Finland, erkki.tolonen(at)helsinki.fi, tel. +358 29 414 4588
– Special Adviser Tomi Kytölä, Ministry of Education and Culture, tomi.kytola(at)minedu.fi, tel. +358 295 330 293

What is Finna.fi?

Home to cultural and scientific material in Finland.A comprehensive learning service.

Opened in 2014.Developed by the National Library of Finland together with 400 Finnish operators.

There are 16.5 million material items of which 2.1 million are available online.In addition to the nationwide Finna.fi service, there are 85 other search services of different archives, libraries and museums available.

Funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi