Introduction to the Digitalarkivet

If you do family history in Norway, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy is one of the best places to start. It’s Arkivverket’s (the National Archives of Norway) public publishing platform for digitised and transcribed archive material, and it’s free to use.

What is Digitalarkivet?

Think of Digitalarkivet as two things in one:

1. Searchable databases (transcriptions) where you can search names, places, dates, and roles.

2. Scanned originals where you can browse the actual church books, court records, and more—page by page.

Used together, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy lets you move from a quick search result to the original source image, which is exactly how careful genealogy should be done. For most beginners, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy is the one site to learn first.

What can you find in Digitalarkivet?

1) Church books (parish registers)

Church books are the backbone of Norwegian genealogy: baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths/burials, and often moving in/out. Millions of entries are searchable, and you can also browse the scanned volumes.

When you want to follow a person cradle-to-grave, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy is where the paper trail usually begins.

2) Censuses

Norwegian censuses list people at a specific place and time—often showing the whole household, ages, occupations, and relationship/position in the family. They’re perfect for locating a family on a farm, spotting children you didn’t know about, or confirming a birth year.

A good habit: use the census to anchor your timeline, then use church books to prove each step. That workflow is a classic use of Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy.

3) Passenger lists and emigration protocols

If your family left Norway, emigration protocols can be a goldmine: last residence, destination, dates, and sometimes more. Digitalarkivet holds many preserved emigration protocols—especially up to around 1930.

For Norwegian-to-America research, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy often provides the “bridge record” that connects the home parish to an overseas destination.

4) Probate records and court material

Probate can reveal family relationships, property, guardianship, debts, and local networks—especially when the church books are thin or the names repeat. Digitalarkivet also includes “law and justice” material such as court and probate records.

If you’re trying to separate two men with the same name, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy plus probate is a time-tested solution.

5) Property and land records (mortgage/pledge books and registers)

Land matters in Norway. Scanned mortgage books (pantebøker) and related registers can document purchases, sales, mortgages, rights of way, and boundaries. Digitalarkivet’s scanned archives include sections for property title registers and pledge books (up to 1951).

For farm history and ownership chains, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy can take you beyond “who” and into “what they held—and why it mattered.”

These are the five main source categories we will use the most. Digitalarkivet contiain a lot more, but we will get back to that in future articles.

“Find source” and advanced searching across record groups

Sometimes you don’t know which record type you need. The “Find source” area and advanced person search let you search broadly and then filter down—parish registers, probate, courts, and more.

This is where Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy becomes a practical toolbox rather than a single database.

How to get good results (without getting lost)

Start with what is certain

Begin with one proven fact (a name + a parish + an approximate year). Then expand carefully. With Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy, small, verified steps beat big leaps.

Switch between transcription and scan

A transcription is a map; the scan is the terrain. Always click through to the scanned image when available. This “search → verify” pattern is one of the main strengths of Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy. When you get a transcribed hit, you can most often find a link to the scanned record in the upper left corner of the page.

Use place logic

Norwegian people move, but usually in understandable ways: neighboring parishes, seasonal work areas, urban ports. Try also searching by farm name. That simple habit makes Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy far more effective. Look at my article Find Norwegian place names and How Geography Shaped Norwegian Family Histories

Expect spelling variation

Names and farms can be written many ways. Try:

• wildcards

• alternate spellings

• patronymics (Olsen/Olsdatter)

• farm names as identifiers

This flexibility is essential when working in Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy. While the search engine in Digitalarkivet do inclusw some spelling variants, you might want to have a look at my article Alternative spellings of Norwegian names.

A simple “first session” plan

1. Find your person in a census (if the time period fits).

2. Locate the same person in the parish register: baptism and confirmation first.

3. Identify marriage and children.

4. Confirm death/burial and (if relevant) probate.

5. If they emigrated, check emigration protocols/passenger lists.

Do that once, slowly and correctly, and Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy will start to feel familiar—like a well-used reading room, just online.

Final thoughts

Norwegian genealogy rewards patience: careful reading, cross-checking, and respect for original sources. With its combination of searchable databases and scanned originals, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian family history helps you work in the old, reliable way—only faster, and with much broader reach.

If you have questions or views, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or drop me a word through the contact page.