Help

• Your record
• Your record
• Forgot your PIN?
• Renewing loans
• Reserving library items
• Reserving magazines
• Modifying, freezing and cancelling requests
• Using an alias in reservations
• My reading history
• Changing your contact information
• Saving a favourite hold pickup location
• Reservation notification, due date notification, late return reminder and payment reminder
• Using the bag
• Search tips
• Keyword Search
• Browse Search
• Thesauri and classification systems
• Is the book available
• Printing your search results
• Other instructions
• Technical tips
• Privacy statement, description of information system and accessibility statement
• Транскрипция (написание) русских букв в библиотеках системы Helmet

Your record

Your record

In order to log in to Your record you need your library card number and a PIN code. You can ask for a PIN code in any Helmet library.

The PIN code consists of four numbers. You need the same PIN code when using the self-check lending machine.

In Your record, you can

• browse and renew your loans
• make reservations
• browse and modify your reservations
• change your PIN code, telephone numbers, address and email
• choose your favourite hold pickup location
• save your own reading history and browse or modify it

NB. You can log in through the link Login on the front page or through reservations. Please do not forget to log out.

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Forgot your PIN?

If you have forgotten your PIN code, you can get a new one if a valid email address has been saved in the customer register. Click Login. On the following page there is a link Forgot your PIN? Click the link, type your library card number and click Submit. You will receive an email with the instructions for changing your PIN code.

If your valid email address has not been saved in the customer register, please visit any Helmet library and present your ID card to get a new PIN code.

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Renewing loans

Log in to Your record. You can renew all your loans at once, or only the ones you choose.

You are not allowed to renew a single item more than five times.

You are not allowed to renew requested items.

You are not allowed to renew your loans in case you have 30 € or more of outstanding fees.

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Reserving library items

You are not allowed to have more than 100 reservations at a time.

You are not allowed to make reservations if you have 30 € or more of outstanding fees.

Your reservation will focus on all collections in Helmet libraries.

The first available book, CD, DVD etc. will be picked out for you.

You will receive a notice as a text message, by e-mail or mail when the requested item can be collected from the chosen library. The library holds the reserved items for 6 working days for you to collect. You can check the last pickup date in your account. If you have chosen the mobile library as the pickup location, your reservation will be available for you twice at your chosen stop.

You can also check the current status of the reserved items in Your Record.

• You can collect reserved items when their status is Ready. Must pick up by.
• When the status of your reservation is IN TRANSIT, the item is being transported from one library to another.
• When the status of your reservation is ON SHELF, the item is not yet ready for you to collect.
• If your reservation stands in the queue you can see your place in the queue in the status field.

You can reserve library items in the following ways:

1. You can make reservations via Helmet web library
   • You can reserve a single title via the button Request at a reference listing or in the full record of a title
   • You can choose several titles from reference listings via the buttons Add Marked to Bag and Add all on Page and reserve them all at a time. Click the button View bag and then the button Request from basket.
2. Staff can make your reservations for you in the library or on the phone. Your library card or its number is needed.
3. You can call a library and reserve items on shelf. If you reserve items by telephone, these will not be sent to another library but you have to go and collect them from the library you call.

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Reserving magazines

You cannot choose the issue of a magazine to be requested before you have given all other information needed, e.g.:

Search the full record of a given magazine and click either Request or Add to Bag. Enter your library card number and pin code, choose the pickup library and click Submit. Now you will see a list of the issues of the chosen magazine. Tick the issue you want and click Request selected item.

You can reserve several issues of a magazine one after the other, but you have to choose each issue individually. When you have reserved one issue of a magazine, click the button Regular display and then again the button Request.

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Modifying, freezing and cancelling requests

Log in to Your record and click the link X requests.

If you want to change the hold pickup location, choose the new pickup location from the dropdown menu and click Update list. You will have this question: "The following hold(s) will be updated. Would you like to proceed?" Answer "Yes". (NB. Do NOT tick the box on either side of the request!) You cannot change the pickup location if the status of your request is "In transit" or "Ready. Must pick up by..."

If you want to cancel one or several holds, tick the box on the left side of the chosen requests and click Update list. You will have this question: "The following hold(s) will be updated. Would you like to proceed?" Answer "Yes".

If you have chosen a Cancel if not filled by date, you cannot modify it. Library staff can modify it for you if needed. You do not have to choose a Cancel if not filled by date.

If you do not want to receive your requests during a certain period, e.g. while you are on vacation, you can freeze your requests. Tick the box Freeze on the right side of the request and click Update list. You will have this question: "The following hold(s) will be updated. Would you like to proceed?" Answer "Yes". During the freeze, your reservation will proceed in the queue normally, but it will not be delivered to you until you have unfrozen it.

To unfreeze the requests, take the tick off of the Freeze box, click Update list and answer "Yes".

A reservation cannot be frozen if it is already waiting to be picked up at the library, on its way to you from another library or available on the shelf at another library. Use freezing only temporarily.

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Using an alias in reservations

The Data Protection Ombudsman recommends that customers’ names be not shown in reserved items. In some libraries, the self-service reservations are alphabetized by the customer’s alias (assumed name). You will get an alias from the library’s customer service by presenting a valid ID card accepted by the library. After an alias has been saved in your customer record, the slip in your reservations will show your alias instead of your name.

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My reading history

The library system does not automatically save your reading history. You can start and stop saving your reading history any time. Your reading history cannot be browsed or modified by other customers or library staff.

Log in to Your record. Click the link My Reading History to start or stop saving your loans. You can also remove chosen loans from your reading history or empty your reading history.

Only the loans you make after starting to save your reading history will be saved.

If you want to print out your reading history, click Export reading history. Choose Screen and use the browser’s Print function.

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Changing your contact information

Log into Your record and click Modify personal information. Make the changes and click SUBMIT.

NB. You cannot change your name via the web service. Please visit any Helmet library and present an ID card with your new name (or an ID card with your old name plus a certificate of changing your name). You will get a new library card free of charge.

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Saving a favourite hold pickup location

Log in to Your record and click Modify personal information. Choose the library from the dropdown menu and click SUBMIT.

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Reservation notification, due date notification, late return reminder and payment reminder

The Helmet Library sends notifications and reminders as text messages, by email and post. Please update your contact info by logging in on your account.

Should you have given us your email address, you will receive due date notification two days before the due date. You will receive the first reminder of overdue material 14 days after the due date by email or by post. If necessary, the second reminder will be sent to you 28 days after the due date only by post.

If you have saved your mobile telephone number with the Finnish country code (+358) in the field "Telephone number for receiving hold pickup notices", you will receive the hold pickup notices as text messages. Otherwise, you will receive the hold pickup notices by email or by mail. If you do not want to receive the hold pickup notices as text messages, you may save your telephone number in the field "Telephone number as contact information".

The Helmet Library system will send reminders of unpaid fees to prevent the debt from expiring.

If you do not receive our notifications to your email, please check that your email address is correct. Also make sure that your mailbox is not full and that your spam filter does not prevent our notifications.

The notifications for reservations from Helsinki City Library come from the address varausilmoitukset@lib.hel.fi. The notifications for reservations from Espoo City Library (apart from the mobile library) come from the address varausilmoitukset@espoonkirjastot.fi. All other reservations and due date notifications from Helmet Libraries are sent from the address helmet@hel.fi. Allow messages from above-mentioned addresses.

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Bag

Use the bag to collect library materials and request several items at one time or to make lists of library materials and print the lists.

You can use the bag either when you are logged in or when you are not. If you want to make reservations, log in first to Your record. If you want to print lists, you need not log in.

Request via bag

Log in to Your record. Use the buttons Add to bag or Add all on page to choose the items you want from one or several hit lists. Click the button View bag and then click Request saved. Choose the pickup location from the dropdown menu. If you only want to request some of the items in the bag, choose the titles you want by ticking the boxes on the left side of the respective titles and click Request selected. If you want to request all items in the bag, click Request available.

Printing a hit list from the bag

Use the buttons Add to bag or Add all on page to choose the items you want from one or several hit lists. Click the button View bag and then click Export saved. If you want to print the list, choose the alternative Screen and click Submit. Use then the browser’s printing function.

Emptying the bag

You can always empty the bag by clicking the button Remove all from bag. If you are logged in to Your record when using the bag, the bag will automatically be emptied when you log out. If you are not logged in to Your record when using the bag, the bag will automatically be emptied in 30 minutes.

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Search tips

Keyword Search

You can begin a free keyword search either from the search field on the front page (choose Keyword from the dropdown menu) or by clicking Advanced search on the first page.

The keyword search finds the given words in every accessible part of the data base except for ISBN and classification numbers. You can use any search word or part of word. (Truncation: see instructions below.)

You can type several keywords one after another. The program searches for titles in whose bibliographic records all the given words appear. NB. All subject terms in Helmet database are in Finnish or in Swedish.

If you want to search for a phrase (words in a particular consecutive order), type it in inverted commas (" ").

Truncation in Keyword Search

You can truncate keywords in order to enhance your search. By truncating the keywords, references with inflected forms of words and different endings will be included in your search result.

When truncating, use an asterisk (*). The asterisks will replace any number of characters from the end of the word. For example, the keyword commun* will search for communal, commune, communicant, communicate, communicating, communication, communicative, communion, communiqué, communism, communist, community etc.

You can also truncate a word in the middle, e.g. condol*a.

You cannot truncate a word from the beginning.

You may use a question mark (?) to replace a single character anywhere within a word.

Keyword operators

You can link keywords with the Boolean operators AND, OR and AND NOT.

You do not have to type the operator AND. It is automatically added between the search terms.

Use the operator OR in order to find references with at least one of the given keywords. OR widens the search.

Use the operator AND NOT in order to find references with the first keyword but without the second one. AND NOT narrows the search.

You can combine several operators in one and the same search. Define your search phrase with brackets. The phrase within the brackets will be searched for first. If you do not use brackets, the operators function in the following order: 1) And not 2) And 3) Or.

Prefixes

Use prefixes to specify your search.

• a: (author)
• t: (title)
• s: (subject, subject term)
• n: (notes, notices, publishers)

Limiting and arranging the Keyword Search

You can limit the Keyword Search in advance according to material type, language, library and year of publication. Choose first Advanced search.

The search results are sorted according to relevance. You can sort them afterwards in alphabetical order or according to the publication year

Limiters without keywords

You can replace the keyword(s) by using only the truncation mark * combined with one or more limiters (material type, language, year of publication, library). This way you will find all material of any particular kind.

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Browse Search (search according to title, author, subject, ISBN/ISSN or classification number)

Browse Search focuses on indexes in the database. You can browse these indexes by choosing an index from the left dropdown menu on the first page and typing a search term or the beginning of a search term. In Browse Search, truncation is automatic.

The indexes are:

• Title

• Author

• Subject

• ISBN/ISSN

• Espoo class

• Helsinki class

• Kauniainen class

• Vantaa class

Limiting a Browse Search and listing the references

You can limit a Browse Search afterwards. Click the button Limit/Sort search and choose one or more limiters:

• year of publication
• material type (book, map, CD, board game etc.)
• language
• library (children's departments appear as separate libraries)
• a word in the title
• a word in the author's name
• a subject term

You can choose one or more limiters in the dropdown menus for material type, language and library. Use the Control button when choosing more than one limiter per menu. The search results are presented in alphabetical order. You can sort your search results according to the year of publication beginning from the most recent reference.

Scopes

You can focus your search to the Entire Collection or to a separate scope in the dropdown menu. The scopes are

Scopes

You can focus your search to the Entire Collection or to a separate scope in the dropdown menu.

The scopes are

• Fiction (books from all classes of fiction, cartoons excluded)
• Non-fiction (books from all classes of non-fiction, cartoons excluded)
• Music (musical recordings, sheet music, music books, music videos and music DVDs)
• Film (films and TV series as DVDs and BDs)
• Games
• Cartoons (cartoon books and magazines)
• Journals
• E-materials
• Audio books
• Languages, language courses (all material from language classes)
• Adults’ collection (all material in adults’ departments)
• Children’s collection (all material in children's and juvenile departments)
• Stack (all material from books stacks and music stacks)
• Espoo (all material in Espoo City Library)
• Helsinki (all material in Helsinki City Library)
• Kauniainen (all material in Kauniainen City Library)
• Vantaa (all material in Vantaa City Library)
• Coming soon

Use scopes with caution in order not to leave out relevant material.

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Thesauri and classification systems

The subject search only recognizes subject terms in Finnish or Swedish. You can find the Finnish and Swedish subject terms for non-fiction and music in YSO – General Finnish ontology.

If you wish to search with a classification number, choose Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen or Vantaa class from the dropdown menu. Use HCLCS – Helsinki City Library Classification System for Helsinki class and PLC – Finnish Public Libraries Classification System for Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa class.

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Is the book available?

If there is a due date in the status field, the item is borrowed even if the due date is over.

If the status is On holdshelf, the item is reserved.

If the status is Offline, the item is not yet in the library collection.

If the status of an item belonging to the mobile library collection is On shelf, the item may be either in the mobile library centre or in one of the mobile library units. Please check the availability from the staff.

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Printing your search results

Click Add All On Page or choose titles one by one by clicking Add Marked To Bag. Click View Bag and then choose between

• Export saved
• Request saved

If you want to print the references on paper, choose the alternative Screen, click SUBMIT and use the web browser's Print button. You can save references from several different searches and combine them in the same list.

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Other instructions

Technical tips

You can use Helmet Search via modern web standardized browsers that have a 256-bit encryption:

• Edge
• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari

It is advisable to use the latest browser versions published.

If you cannot open Your Record or make reservations or renew your loans, or if you have other problems in using the service, please check that your browser meets the requirements mentioned above and that your Internet Options are as follows:

Check the encryption level

A protected connection is needed in order to safeguard your personal information. The encryption level must be 256-bit.

Allow cookies

Some of the cookies used on the Helmet Seach are necessary for the operation of the service, enabling, for example, the reservation of materials and renewal of loans. You cannot disable necessary cookies. We also use, for example, statistical cookies in order to develop the website. You can use the cookie tool to reject these and other cookies that are not necessary for using the service. You can edit your cookie preferences at any time. Go to cookie settings.

Remove temporary files and cookies

To make sure that your browser automatically checks if there are updated versions of the saved pages, please remove all temporary files and cookies.

Allow Javascript

Javascript is used in certain functionalities of Helmet Search.

Allow pop-up windows

If you have prevented the use of pop-up windows, please allow them from the pages (luettelo.helmet.fi).

Basic information about Helmet Web Library:

• 256-bit SSL encryption is used.
• Standardized tcp gates are used in http and SSL transmission.
• Certificate granted by: Thawte SSL CA.

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Privacy statement, description of information system and accessibility statement

Privacy statement of the customer register of Helmet libraries

Description of information system provided by act on the openness of government activities

Accessibility statement

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Транскрипция (написание) русских букв в библиотеках системы Helmet

Русская буква		Соответсвует финская буква
А, а	Александр	A, a	Aleksandr
Б, б	Бунин	B, b	Bunin
В, в	Ванников	V, v	Vannikov
Г, г	Гагарин	G, g	Gagarin
Д, д	Данилов	D, d	Danilov
Е, e	Петров	E, e после согласной	Petrov
	Алексеев Беляев Григорьев Екатерина	Je, je в начале слова, после гласной, после ь или ъ знаков	Aleksejev Beljajev Grigorjev Jekaterina
Ë, ë	Потёмкин	Jo, jo	Potjomkin
O, o	Горбачёв	O, o после букв ж, ч, ш, щ	Gorbatsov
Ж, ж	Жираф Жириновский	Ž, ž (верхний значок —писать не нужно)	Ziraf Zirinovski
З, з	Зеленин	Z, z	Zelenin
И, и	Иванов	I, i	Ivanov
	Ильич	j в слове, после ь знака	Iljits
Й, й	Николай	i	Nikolai
	Йошкар-Ола Новороссийск	J, j в начале слова или в слове после буквы и	Joskar-Ola Novorossijsk
	Достоевский	буква Й пропускается  в конце слова после буквы И	Dostojevski
К, к	Кривенко	K, k	Krivenko
Л, л	Лариса	L, l	Larisa
М, м	Марина	M, m	Marina
Н, н	Никитин	N, n	Nikitin
О, о	Олег	O,o	Oleg
П, п	Павлов	P, p	Pavlov
Р, р	Роман	R, r	Roman
С, с	Симонов	S, s	Simonov
Т, т	Тургенев	T, t	Turgenev
У, у	Успенский	U, u	Uspenski
Ф, ф	Филиппов	F, f	Filippov
Х, х	Хренов	H, h	Hrenov
Ц, ц	Царёв	Ts, ts	Tsarjov
Ч, ч	Чехов	Tš, tš (верхний значок —писать не нужно)	Tsehov
Ш, ш	Шукшин	Š, š (верхний значок —писать не нужно)	Suksin
Щ, щ	Щедрин	Štš, štš (верхний значок —писать не нужно)	Stsedrin
ъ	Подъездкин	пропускается (не пишется)	Podjezdkin
ы	Латышев	y	Latysev
ь	Хорьков	пропускается (не пишется)	Horkov
Э, э	Элла	E, e	Ella
Ю, ю	Юрий	Ju, ju	Juri
Я, я	Яковлев	Ja, ja	Jakovlev

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