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Lending services: Aalto-Primo

Lending services at the Aalto University Learning Centre

Aalto-Primo

The Learning Centre provides access to a large collection of electronic resources and printed materials in Aalto University fields of research.

All the electronic and printed materials can be found in Aalto-Primo (primo.aalto.fi).

By signing in to Aalto-Primo, you can

  • renew your loans and to reserve non-available books
  • save your favorites
  • export references to reference management software
  • pay your overdue fees
  • use electronic resources linceced for Aalto University also off-campus

Aalto University students and staff

Aalto University students and staff sign in to Aalto-Primo with their personal Aalto user ID and password.

  • You can get a physical library card by activating your customer information in Aalto-Primo by signing in with your Aalto user credentials.
  • After activation, you can pick up the library card from Learning Center customer service desk during customer service hours. Please remember to bring an official ID card.
  • Changes to personal and contact information for Aalto University students and staff are transferred from university information systems to the library system.
  • Licensed e-resources can be used without valid physical library card.

Other customers

Other customers sign in to Aalto-Primo with their library card number and password. 

  • Sign up for a library card beforehand online by filling in an application.
  • Please notify the Learning Centre of changes in contact details by signing into Aalto-Primo and editing information at My Account. Contact information can also be updated by contacting the customer service.

To sign in for the first time, you need to set a new password. To be able to set a new password, sign in using this link > reset password for the first time.

Enter either your library card number or e-mail address in the box that opens. (Please note the e-mail address has to be the same as the one in your library customer account.) The system will send a link for resetting the password to your e-mail. Click the link you receive in your e-mail. Enter a password of your choice in the box “Create New Password”. Clicking Send will direct you to an Aalto-Primo sign in -window, enter your library card number and the password you just created.

If you doubt that there is no e-mail address in your customer account or that the e-mail address is incorrect or you have some other problems with signing in, please contact  Aalto University Learning Centre customer service: oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi.

After the first sign in, the password is changed by signing in to your customer account. If you forget your password, you can get a new one by clicking the link Did you forget your password? int the sign in -window.

PIN code

  • Pin code needed for self-service check out machines only
  • You can set or change the four-digit PIN code in Aalto-Primo by signing in to your account: My Account > Personal details tab > Update PIN / Password

Default PIN code 1234 can also be set at the Learning Centre customer service desk, after which you should change your PIN code by signing in to your account.

What can I find in Aalto-Primo?

In Basic search you may search within all resources "Search everything",  or you may select a predefined limitation to one of  the following:

  • Search for books, journals and theses - (Library purchased books, e-books and other material listed in library catalog)
  • Search for international articles - (Central discovery index= a vast collection of e-articles or article references, also references to books/e-books/other resources)
  • Search Aaltodoc publication archive - (Consists of full text materials produced by the university, such as theses, reports and research materials)
  • Search everything

 

Search Tips

  • Combine, expand, or limit your search through the operators AND, OR, NOT. Please remember to write the operators with capital letters. 
  • Use * as a wildcard character to search for variants of a word, for instance test* (tests, tester, testing, etc.)
  • Use ? as a wildcard to replace a single letter, for instance wom?n for woman and women.
  • Use (...) parenthesis to group query words, for instance technology AND (sustainable OR environmental).
  • Use "..." quotation marks, if you want to search for a compound term, for instance "global warming".

 

Too many results?

  • Use the filtering features to the left of the results list to limit your results by type of material, author, subject, year, library, etc.

Loans and renewals

You can renew your loans when you are signed in to Aalto-Primo.

You can sign in:   

  1. Click on the ‘Sign in’ button in the upper right corner of the screen. Once you are signed in, you will find "Menu" options by clicking on your name in the upper right corner of the screen.
  2. You can also sign in by clicking first on ‘Menu’ and ‘My Account’. After signing in, the software will display a general overview of your loans, reservations, payments, loan blocks and messages.

You can renew all eligible loans by clicking on ‘Renew All'. Alternatively, you can renew a selection of individual works by checking the box next to the loan you wish to renew and clicking ‘Renew selected’. Additionally, you can renew any individual loans by clicking on the ‘Renew’ button on the respective row.

  • If no ‘Renew’ button is displayed, either the loan cannot be renewed or you have just renewed it, in which case the text ‘Renewed’  will be displayed instead of the button.

 

Requests

To make a reservations you need a valid library card. Please note! You can only resere materials that are on loan or reserved for another customer. Alternatively, you can ask the library staff to make the reservation for you. It is not possible to reserve materials that are available on the shelves.

  1. Sing in to Aalto-Primo
  2. Search for the book you need
  3. Clicking the link ... opens the availability information of the book
  4. Click the link Make a reservation
  5. Choose a pick-up location
  6. Click Make a reservation

You will receive an email notification when your reservation has arrived. Reserved books can be picked up by self-service. The material will be kept reserved for you for 5 workdays. To use the self service check out at the library, you need a four-digit PIN code: My Account > Personal details tab > Update PIN / Password

You can cancel a reservation in the Requests -tab in Aalto-Primo. You may also contact customer service to cancel a reservation. If a reservation is not picked up or cancelled by the due date, 2 euro fee will be charged.

Short loans or items you already have borrowed can not be reserved.

Fines & fees

You can pay your fines and fees online in Aalto-Primo. Go to My account > Fine+Fees -tab and click on Pay Fine -link. The minimum amount for online payment is 0,70€.

If a customer's overdue fees are or exceed EUR 10, the customer is automatically placed in a patron block. The patron block will prevent the customer from borrowing new items or renewing items on loan. The block is lifted immediately after the fees have been paid.

Access to online library resources

Aalto University students or faculty members can access all licensed library resources, such as scientific articles, databases and e-books, without a valid physical library card wherever and whenever by logging in to Aalto-Primo with Aalto user credentials.

Other customers can use our materials via workstations at Learning Centre.

My Favourites, and Saved searches

You can save searches and individual results in My Favourites if you are signed in. You can send the search results to your own e-mail (e-mail icon) or copy the result in as a bibliographic reference in different referencing styles. In addition, you will have an opportunity to set an email alert query by clicking the notification link that appears above the search box.

Reference management

Benefits of Reference management software

  • you can save search results in one place where you can edit them
  • make notes and attachments
  • create in-text citations and bibliographies automatically
  • a bibliography can be created automatically according to several different systems, for example APA, Harvard and Vancouver

You can learn more about reference management on Libguides help page.