Hakukatalogeihin

Hakukatalogeihin is a Finnish linguistic form used to refer to search catalogs in the context of libraries and information retrieval. The base noun hakukatalogi denotes a user‑facing system that allows patrons to search across bibliographic records and other holdings. The ending -eihin is the illative plural form, so hakukatalogeihin translates roughly to “into/onto the search catalogs” or, in practical terms, to searching across multiple discovery catalogs. As such, hakukatalogeihin is more of a grammatical expression than a distinct technical concept.

In library practice, hakukatalogi are also known as discovery services or union catalogs. They provide a single search interface that aggregates metadata from several catalogs, such as local library catalogs, national aggregations, and sometimes archives or museums. Features typically include keyword search, advanced search by fields (author, title, subject, ISBN), facets for narrowing results, availability and location information, and links to full text or holdings. They may support interlibrary loan requests and integration with user accounts for saved searches or favorites.

A prominent real‑world example in Finland is Finna, a national discovery service that aggregates data from libraries, archives, and museums. Finna exemplifies how hakukatalogeihin operate in practice, enabling cross‑institution discovery and streamlined access to resources. The concept has evolved from traditional OPACs to more integrated, multi‑source search experiences, driven by standards and APIs that enable federated searching and richer metadata.

In summary, hakukatalogeihin relates to the practice of searching across discovery catalogs in a Finnish library context, with the term mainly functioning as a grammatical form embedded in discussions of search interfaces and library services. See also OPAC and discovery systems.