Accreditation

Liv, who became accredited in 2011, was happy to go through the process as she felt that it definitely proved she could do genealogical research in Norway.  She stated, “When a person attends college he or she receives a diploma or certificate to prove that they have completed the requirements for a given degree.  The AG credential does the same for a person who pursues accreditation.”

Challenging and Unique Aspects of Norwegian Genealogy

Records in Norway may be missing, lost or destroyed, according to Liv’s experience.  This can be a challenge, as less used records must be used to prove that the information is correct.  At times it is necessary to contact archivists for a given area of Norway, as each area can be unique. It is very important to know what is available and how to access the information.  It is also good to know the history of the country and the different communities.

Advice for Others Pursuing Accreditation

Liv’s advice to those pursuing accreditation is to take time to understand the records—how they came to be—and to learn the history of the area they are researching.

Goals

Although she has been researching in Norway for more than 40 years, she knows that there are still new websites and information becoming available.  She wants to keep abreast of all new information available in websites and elsewhere, including those focusing on Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden as well.

Current and Future Research Projects

Liv is currently preparing classes that will be available at the Family History Learning Center as well as helping friends and relatives with their research.  She enjoys searching for new websites and finding people in unusual places.

Websites

There are several websites that are of great value for persons performing research in Norway.  The most used one is a free site:  The Digital Archives of Norway.  http://arkivverket.no/eng/digitalarkivet.  This site offers online access to digital archive material.  Here a researcher can search databases/tables, read transcripts, and browse census, probate, emigration, genealogical collections, and much more.

Additional websites for Norway can also be found at the FamilySearch wiki (http://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Norway.)