The Norwegian-American Collection at the National Library is the national collection of printed documents on emigration from Norway to the USA and Canada. The collection was begun in 1958 when documents were donated by institutions and private individuals in America.

Documents in the collection cover the history and the causes of emigration, the trip, genealogy of Norwegian-Americans, local history of Norwegian settlements and congregations in America, publications of the bygdelags, travel guides for emigrants, phrase books, documents on the religious life of the Norwegian-Americans, printed diaries and letters, biographies, emigrant songs, maps and books in all subject areas used by the Norwegian-American community as well as fiction and studies of Norwegian-American literature. The library also has a large collection of Norwegian-American newspapers and periodicals.

All documents can be used free of charge in the reading room of the library. Documents in duplicate in the collection as well as microfilms of newspapers may be borrowed in Oslo or through inter-library loan. A copy service is available for a fee. The library does not carry out extended genealogical research. Acquisitions catalogued from 1990 are listed in the national on-line catalogue BIBSYS. The library has also made available the Thor M. Andersen bibliography (TMA) which gives references to more than 50000 documents, periodical and newspaper articles by or about Norwegian-Americans, together with biographical information on the authors. The Norwegian-American Collection is a member of The Association of European Migration Institutions.

The Promise of America / Det løfterike landetis a bilingual, multimedia website with Norwegian-American materials. The website makes accessible articles and excerpts from books in full-text versions, bibliographies, photos, sound and video clippings covering various aspects of Norwegian emigration to North America and the Norwegian-American immigrant experience between 1825 and 2000. Links to other websites within the field have also been included.

Contact
Dina Tolfsby / Tel: +47 23 27 61 67