Selosteet

Selosteet are concise descriptive notes in Finnish, formed from seloste meaning description or explanation. They appear in many professional and academic contexts to accompany larger works, reports, or datasets, and to provide essential information without requiring readers to read the full document.

In research and education, a seloste may outline the study design, data sources, methods, or assignment requirements, including scope and key terminology. In public administration and policy work, selosteet describe programs, procedures, criteria, timelines, and budgets to give readers a quick orientation. In publishing and journalism, they function as brief descriptions of content, such as a summary of a report or a description of the scope and purpose of a file.

Typical characteristics include a factual, neutral tone, completeness, and clarity. A seloste is usually concise, avoiding interpretation or evaluation, and it may specify purpose, scope, key features, terminology, and references. Depending on the field, it can be a stand-alone document or attached to a larger work as an introduction or metadata.

The term is primarily used in Finnish-language contexts; in English, it may be translated as description, explanatory note, specification, or abstract depending on the function. The exact meaning of selosteet thus depends on context, but they share the aim of making complex materials more accessible by providing essential information in a compact form.