The National Archives of Finland receives documents that have been released by public officials and acquires and preserves other datasets that are significant for society and research. The National Archives of Finland has also acquired a significant number of microfilm reproductions of documents from other archives. The majority of the most extensively used materials and microfilms have been digitised. State officials transfer all of their permanently stored documents that are more than 40 years old to the National Archives of Finland. As a rule, municipalities, cities and federations of municipalities store their own documents in their own central archives. Lutheran congregations and Orthodox parishes have stored their archives in the National Archives of Finland, and all medieval documents have been collated in the National Archives of Finland. The oldest unified document series date back to the 1500s. The National Archives of Finland is also home to many archives of private individuals, families, organisations, associations and businesses. For more detailed information on the materials and their digitisation progress, see the website of the National Archives of Finland.
In addition to the National Archives of Finland, many other archives collect and store private archival materials. These archives receive and also actively acquire materials that fall under their area of responsibility, in accordance with the division of work that the archives have collectively agreed upon.
The People’s Archives (Kansan arkisto, KansA) stores and makes available historical documents from Finland’s left-wing labour movement, civic organisations and private individuals. The Archive of the Centre Party and Rural Areas (Keskustan ja maaseudun arkisto, KMA) is responsible for the permanent storage of archival material from the Centre Party’s history and the organisations and private individuals close to the party, and the archive also promotes the research-oriented use of these materials. The Labour Archives (Työväen Arkisto, TA) is Finland’s oldest popular movement archive that receives, stores and makes available extensive datasets that focus on the following topics: political organisations, the trade union movement, organisational activities in their entirety, private individuals and oral history. The Archives of the Organizations of the National Coalition Party (Porvarillisen Työn Arkisto, PTA) is responsible for the preservation of documents that were created by bourgeois organisations and pertain to conservative social activities, and provides them for research-oriented use.
The Central Archives for Finnish Business Records (Suomen Elinkeinoelämän Keskusarkisto, ELKA) is responsible for the preservation of historical information and traditions that are connected and related to Finnish business life and for making these available for further use. The Archives of Salaried Employees (Toimihenkilöarkisto, THA) is the common archive for trade unions for white-collar workers and their members, and it makes its archives available for the use of researchers.
The archive of the Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran arkisto, SKS) acquires, preserves and makes available source materials from Finnish literature and cultural history as well as materials related to tradition and oral history. The archive of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland (Svenska litteratursällskapets arkiv, SLS) receives donated materials that focus on Finnish-Swedish culture and cultural heritage and also documents the subject with the help of acquisitions, surveys and field work. The Swedish Central Archive of Finland (Svenska centralarkivet, SCA) maintains a private archive of activities related to Finnish-Swedish society and culture.
The Sports Archive of Finland (Suomen Urheiluarkisto, SUA) is responsible for the preservation and organisation of historically significant documents related to Finnish sports history and for making them available for wider use. Music Archive Finland (Musiikkiarkisto) collects, stores and makes available especially unique materials that are related to Finnish music, apart from art music and folk music.
The Archives of President Urho Kekkonen contain literature that was provided by President Kekkonen as well as other written materials for the purposes of promoting historical research. The Migration Institute of Finland collects and stores materials related to migration and questions of ethnicity, conducts and promotes research, publishes studies, develops its collaborative efforts, and maintains an information service. The Finnish Social Science Data Archive (Tietoarkisto, FSD) archives and relays digital research datasets for the use of research, education and study purposes.
For more detailed information on the materials and information resources housed in each private archive, see their respective websites.
The materials of the following archives can also be searched by using the Finna service: the National Archives of Finland, the People’s Archives, the Migration Institute of Finland, the Archive of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, the Labour Archives, the Finnish Social Science Data Archive and Music Archive Finland. Many private archives also use other shared search services and databases. A summary of the online services and databases available for the materials of the National Archives of Finland can be found on the website of the National Archives of Finland.
AHAA, which is maintained by CSC – IT Center for Science, is an archival description tool that provides a shared user interface and common description rules that can be used to produce and manage the metadata needed in the description process, which, in turn, increases the usability of the datasets housed by different archives. The materials that have been described in the AHAA system can, in the future, be searched using Finna. AHAA will be taken into use by the National Archives of Finland, the Finnish Literature Society, the People’s Archives, the Archive of the Centre Party and Rural Areas, the Archives of the Organizations of the National Coalition Party, the Swedish Central Archive of Finland and Music Archive Finland.
YKSA is an archival system maintained by Disec Oy that can be used to manage both the digital and analogue archival and preservation process. YKSA is used by the following private archives: the Central Archives for Finnish Business Records, the Archives of President Urho Kekkonen, the Archives of Salaried Employees, the Sports Archive of Finland and the Labour Archives.