General rules

The Åbo Akademi University Library is a scientific library primarily serving the researchers, teachers, students and staff of Åbo Akademi. The library is also a public library open to all.

The library primarily acquires, keeps and provides literature and other material within the fields of science represented at Åbo Akademi. The library is also a legal depositary library.

The rules concerning the users of the library pertain to all units of Åbo Akademi Library. In addition to the general user rules, the library might give further instructions for the use of the library.

Library material

The collections of the library are available at the library, online and through lending home or to the reading room.

Material that belongs to the library may be copied within the limits of current legislation and provided that the material does not come to any harm.

The user rights for electronic material allows reading, saving and printing in accordance with current copyright legislation and user license.

The availability of the legal depositary copies is subject to laws and regulations.

Loans

Loans from the library are available as home or reading room loans. The loan period varies according to collection and library unit. There is also material that is not given out on loan. Detailed information is available at the various library units, in the library’s databases and on the library’s website.

All borrowers must have a library card. Library cards are given to persons with a photographic identity document accepted by the library and an address in Finland. By signing the registration form and the library card, the borrower agrees to follow the borrowing rules of the library. The library card is to be shown every time when borrowing material. Loans for another person can be picked up given that the messenger has the borrower’s library card. The messenger must be able to show an identity document. Each borrower is personally responsible for his or her loans. Loans must not be given to another person.

When borrowing, the borrower agrees to return the loans by the due date. Borrowed material can be reserved. Users cannot reserve material that they themselves have borrowed. The loans can be renewed according to current lending practice given that nobody else has reserved the material. Courtesy notices and overdue reminders are sent by e-mail. Inability to read or receive notices/reminders as well as undelivered notices/reminders will not be accepted as a valid excuse for late return and fees will not be waived. In case loans are not returned despite repeated requests, the library takes legal action to retrieve the loans.

Borrowers, who repeatedly break the lending rules, shall have their borrowing rights suspended.

Material borrowed from the library should be handled with care. It is forbidden to make notes or underlinings in the printed material. The borrower must replace lost or damaged material, primarily with a new copy, or according to the current price list.

Course literature is mainly lent to the students of Åbo Akademi University.

The number of orders per day for one and the same person can be limited. Also the number of loans can be limited.

Interlibrary loans

Interlibrary loans and copies of material which is needed for research, teaching or advanced studies and is not available at the Åbo Akademi Library or at other local libraries, are ordered from other libraries. Interlibrary loans are primarily ordered for the researchers, teachers, students and staff of Åbo Akademi University.

Interlibrary loans and copies from the library’s collections are sent to other libraries.

The interlibrary loan service follows the general rules for interlibrary loans and the instructions of the sending library.

Borrower register and information security

The library’s borrower register is only used to administer lending. The information on loans is erased when the loans are returned. The information in the register is not passed on to third parties. According to the Personal Data File Act, everybody is entitled to check their own information in the register. A register description is available on the library’s website and at the libraries.

Miscellaneous

The basic services of the library and the use of the collections are free of charge.

Services performed as requested by a user, for example copying or interlibrary loans, are charged according to the current price list. The library charges a fee for restoring borrowing rights. An overdue fee can be charged for overdue loans. Unpaid invoices will be collected.

The library users may use only the premises of the library intended for the public and only during the library’s opening hours.

The staff is entitled to ask those behaving disturbingly to leave the library.

The library’s computers are primarily intended for reading the library’s digital material and for information searches pertaining to studies and research. The library may reserve some of the computers for the sole use of borrowers holding an Åbo Akademi user name.

The library is not responsible for objects left in the library by users.