Finding Norwegian Bygdebøker Held at the University of Minnesota Libraries

The Norwegian bygdebok is one of the best sources of Norwegian genealogical information. It is a history of a specific community, recording who lived where, and when. It may also include birth, marriage, and death dates; landholdings and chattels; physical descriptions of the farms, buildings, and residents and their possessions; and accounts of historical events. Some may trace family lines back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Bygdebøker are published in Norwegian and often do not have indexes.

The University of Minnesota Libraries has a large collection of bygdebøker and other sources of Norwegian local history. However, the Libraries does not have every one published and the ones we do have are often difficult to find in MNCAT, the Libraries' online catalog.

The reference collection contains several guides to area collections of bygdebøker. Check these sources if you do not find the local history in the University's collection. Search the library's catalog under norway--history, local for other guides and catalogs to bygdebøker collections.

• Slater, Sandra J. Guide to Norwegian bygdebøker : Family History Room, Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota. Grand Forks, N.D. : Family History Room, Elwyn B. Robinson Dept. of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, 1998. (Wilson quarto CS913 .S54x 1998)
• Hill, Dennis Auburn. Norwegian Local History : a bibliography of material in the collections of the Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 1989.
• Lokalhistorisk litteratur, 1969-1984 / redigert av Rolf Fladby og Anna Tranberg. Oslo : Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt, 1986. (Wilson Reference DL448 .F53x 1986)
• Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo. Norsk lokalhistorisk litteratur, 1946-1970. Oslo : Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo, 1976-1981. (Wilson Reference DL445 .O84x 1976 v.1-15)
• Norsk lokalhistorisk litteratur : bibliografi over by- og bygdeboker, regionhistorie og periodika ca. 1900-1996 /tarbeidd av Frode Fyllingsnes.Oslo : Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt, 1997. (Wilson Reference DL445 .N676x 1997)

Following is a list of subject headings that will help you find information on specific localities, including bygdebøker. If the community in which you are interested is not included on this list, try searching for the name of the community as a subject or as a keyword in MNCAT, the University Libraries' computerized catalog. Be creative. Try all spellings of the community name. A subject search will generally result in fewer citations; a keyword search will list more sources, but they may not be as relavent. Try both types of searches. You may be surprised with what you find. You can also try a subject search for farms--norway for a list of some, but not all, of the farms found in local histories, and norway--gazetteers for locations of farms. Also try a keyword search using the term bygdebok.

When entering your search in MNCAT, ignore the Norwegian characters such as æ, å, ä, and ø. Æ should be entered as ae, å and ä as a, and ø as o, unless otherwise noted in the subject list. If you don't find anything using a for å, try aa. This list is alphabetized for the American user, disregarding diacritics such as Ä, Å, Ø in the process of alphabetizing.

A

B

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

Y

Web Sites

• Norwegian Bygdebøker or Local Histories Held at the University of Minnesota Libraries
• Finding Norwegian Bygdebøker Held at the University of Minnesota Libraries
• Norwegian Geographical and Administration Divisions
• Libraries and Resource Centers for Norwegian Historical and Genealogical Research in the Upper Midwest
• The Census of Norway from the year 1801, presented by The Department of History, University of Bergen
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: Norway/Norge
• Find Your Roots in Stavanger: The Norwegian Emigration Center
• Guide to Norwegian Bygdebøker, University of North Dakota
• Bygdebøker from RootsWeb (includes many links for each fylke and includes a list of online bookstores in Norway where you can buy a bygdebok)
• How to Trace Your Ancestors in Norway

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