Linkki maailman runouteen (A Link to World Poetry) is a reference database on translated poetry produced by the Lahti City Library-Regional Library. It contains more than 34 800 references to Finnish translations of world poetry from the ancient times to the present. Helsinki City Library also takes part in adding new poems to the database.
The database aims to fill the enormous gap that still exists in the search for Finnish translations of world poetry. The purpose of the database is to help make world poetry better known in Finland, to make it easier to find individual poems and also the works of poets who are little known - or totally new - in Finland. The database may also inspire new readers to get interested in poetry. The most probable users of the database include librarians, students of languages and literature, teachers, translators, reciters of poetry and ordinary readers interested in poetry. The database does not have commercial purposes, and its use is free for everyone.
The database does not contain information on all poetry translated into Finnish. Its main sources are poetry anthologies and literary and poetry magazines. So far, the database contains little information from monographs. The database may be searched in different ways, for example by title, author, translator, original language and/or first lines. It is also possible to search by the original first lines, but this information may often be imperfect or lacking altogether, especially when the original poem is not written in a European language. When possible, the original texts have been transliterated by the transliteration rules of the Finnish Standards Association.
In addition to literary references the database contains thousands of links to full-text poems on the Internet. Most of the poetry at these sites is older or classic and/or written in the original language. Relatively few poems in Finnish, as well as few new poems, can be found on the Internet compared with older poems no longer bound by copyrights, and compared with poems written in widely used languages. A list of the most important Internet sources of the database can be found on the Links page. Links to other poetry-related sites can also be found there.
New information is added to the database by librarians, along with other library work.
Further information on the database project and contact information:
- length of the project: February 2006 - July 2007
- funding: the Lahti City Library-Regional Library and the Ministry of Education
- technical realization of the database: Sininen Meteoriitti Oy, Helsinki
- updating and maintenance: the Lahti City Library-Regional Library
- contact information: tietopalvelu.kirjasto [at] lahti.fi
