A Fin(n)ished Collection? Examining the Finnish literature collection at the UiT libraries

Abstract

This thesis explores collection development and management and classification by examining the Finnish literature collection at the UiT libraries. The objective of the study is to find out what the background and current state of the collection is and how the collection is represented through classification. The study combines two research methods, a quantitative and a qualitative one. Statistical data was gathered from the library database and analysed, and three expert interviews were conducted. The study shows that the collection has an institutional purpose to support the teaching and research done in the Finnish and Kven study programme and is considered to be crucial for the study programme. However, the size of the collection does not correlate with the use. Over 90% of the books in the collection have not been loaned out during the past four years. Norwegian translations of the Finnish books circulate the best. The classification system used at the library, Dewey Decimal Classification, orders Finnish literature to the “other” category. Because the original language of the book determines the class number, Finnish-Swedish literature is placed under Swedish literature but separated into its own subclass. The findings also reveal that the classification of Kven literature has followed the political evolution of the Kven issue.