Once the memories and records of living family members have been exhausted, there are a number of avenues to pursue. Armed with basic facts - birth dates and places, maiden names, death dates and dates of other major occasions - church and local records can help document the path back to the roots of the family tree.
Other official sources, such as various archives and censuses, are becoming increasingly available as they are registered electronically and them presented on the Internet.
If you are reading this, then your computer and Internet connection already represent the two most important tools you need to start the hunt for family forefathers.
Genealogical resources:
The NATIONAL STATE ARCHIVES SYSTEM (Arkivverket)is composed of:
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES (Riksarkivet)
andTHE REGIONAL STATE ARCHIVES - (Statsarkivene)which contains documents from the regional and local branches of the state administration. There are eight regional archives in Norway: Oslo, Hamar, Kongsberg, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø.
Contact information for the archives:http://www.riksarkivet.no/english/about/contact.html
The article How To Trace Your Norwegian Ancestors
is reading recommended by the National Archives.
For researching Oslo, consult the OSLO CITY ARCHIVES (Byarkivet) and the OSLO PUBLIC LIBRARY (Deichmanske Bibliotek)The central branch has microfilm of Oslo and parish records. They must be over 60 years old for public access.
The Deichmanske genealogy sectiom on the Internet: http://nyhuus.deich.folkebibl.no/deichman/lesesalen/genealog.html (Mostly in Norwegian)
BOOK/INTERNET RESOURCES
The Norwegian family research 'bible':"Våre Røtter" (Our Roots) by N.J. Stoa og P.Ø. Sandberg (1992, revised 2001).
A respected genealogical handbook that includes useful addresses and an overview of microfilm archives.
"Norske Gaardnavne 1898-1936" (Norwegian farm/estate names) by Oluf Rygh and others;
The standard reference with 75,000 names, soon fully accessible on the Internet:
THE NORWEGIAN HISTORICAL DATA CENTER (HSDC)
Computerizing censuses and parish registers and other resources back to 1865.
BERGEN UNIVERSITY
has computer registered census information from 1801 for all of Norway in a searchable database on the Internet:
GENEALOGY SOCIETY OF NORWAY (DIS):
English information, Norwegian needed to make use of site.
DIS RESOURCE LIST:
Excellent, much in English.
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Family history is of particular importance for the Mormons, and their genealogical centers have wide resources. In Oslo, the church has a large microfilm collection.
slekt.no:
Excellent general knowledge genealogy portal, but all in Norwegian.
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