Need to buy books from Finland...Help!
December 10, 2012 1:47 PM   Subscribe

I work at a university library and one of our professors has requested we purchase 2 books that were only published in Finland. I have tried all of my usual book vendors and none of them have these books. Does anyone have any idea who I could contact in Finland to see if these books are still available there? Any ideas would be welcomed. I am all searched out...
posted by libraryleah to Education (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I am not a librarian so perhaps there is some reason this wouldn't work, but could you call a bookstore or library in Finland and ask if they have access to the books?
posted by insectosaurus at 1:52 PM on December 10, 2012


You should probably tell us which books you are looking for.
posted by ryanrs at 1:54 PM on December 10, 2012


You could try asking the national library of finland http://www.nationallibrary.fi/infoe/contacts.html ?

I imagine you don't have much Finnish but I would be very surprised if the Finnish Librarians are not willing to email in English.
posted by southof40 at 1:57 PM on December 10, 2012


If you contact a bookseller or library, try it by email and run the text through Google Translate and append it to the bottom. You can even include a link to the Finnish -> English Google Translate. That way, errors in translation or poor English comprehension may be ameliorated.
posted by amicamentis at 2:13 PM on December 10, 2012


Most Finns speak English; almsot all well-educated Finns speak English quite well. Is there a reason you haven't contacted the publishers directly? Even if they don't sell retail, they should be able to point you to a vendor.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:44 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]


The American-Scandinavian Foundation maintains a small library at Scandinavia House in New York; they might be able to tell you which vendor they use for Finnish materials.
posted by Orinda at 3:56 PM on December 10, 2012


Do you know anyone involved with IFLA ( http://www.ifla.org/)? If not I can see if I do- memail me.
posted by holyrood at 7:28 PM on December 10, 2012


If you haven't already, perhaps try asking the professor for some guidance? If he's asking for books in Finnish, he might also have Finnish colleagues who could give you a little help in searching out the right publishers (or what have you) in their home country.
posted by nomongoose at 10:56 PM on December 10, 2012


I imagine you've already tried this, but have you contacted the presses? I imagine they're probably both university presses, which are probably small operations and would probably respond if contacted. Failing that I've contacted authors asking about their hard to find academic books - people are usually chuffed that you're seeking a copy if they're academic authors. They might be able to put you in contact with their editor at least.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 11:18 PM on December 10, 2012


Arcadia International Book Store on Hesperiankatu.

Ian should be able to help. He's on Facebook as well, very active.
posted by infini at 3:28 AM on December 11, 2012


Also, if its from Aalto University, memail me - I was working there until 2011
posted by infini at 3:29 AM on December 11, 2012


Response by poster: Thanks for all the great ideas! I am going to try some of them today. For those wondering the titles of the books, they are:
Suomalainen Talonpoikaistalo by Alfred Kolehmainen. Pub: Helsingissa: Octave 1979 and Suomalainen Kyla by Anna Kirveennummi. Pub: Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden seura, 2000. I tried contacting the publishers by e-mail last week, but haven't heard anything back yet. Again, thanks for the suggestions! Hive mind! FTW!
posted by libraryleah at 7:24 AM on December 11, 2012


Suomalainen Kirjakauppa is the biggest and best local bookstore/publisher. Their website is in Finnish but there's a contact email at the bottom (if you see the words "asia" something it means help/customer service)

They have your book for 63 euros, for eg.
posted by infini at 10:06 AM on December 11, 2012


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