search

Search the National Library's catalog - books, newspapers, journals, photos, maps, music, manuscripts, radio/TV and more, both physical and digitized. Digitized text (OCR) is matched too by default, so a query can surface newspaper or book pages that mention a term even when it's not in the title.

Signature: search(q: string, required; media_type: string, optional, default None; language: string, optional, default None; county: string, optional, default None; year_from: integer, optional, default None; year_to: integer, optional, default None; digital_only: yes/no, optional, default False; sort: string, optional, default None; page: integer, optional, default 0; size: integer, optional, default 10; limit: integer, items, optional, default 25; offset: integer, items, optional, default 0)

Direct GET

For navigating agents: open the HTML page with parameters in the URL. The result is fetched and displayed without screenshots or form filling.

Open this validated HTML GET URL

https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search/?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0

Replace {q}, {media_type}, {language}, {county}, {year_from}, {year_to}, {digital_only}, {sort}, {page}, {size} with values. Remove unused optional parameters from the URL.

For software and dashboards: Read the operation descriptor. The JSON GET template is https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0. Open this exact request as JSON.

Parameter	Requirement	JSON type	Description
`q`	required	string	Free-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.
`media_type`	optional	union	Restrict to one type, e.g. aviser (newspapers), bøker (books), tidsskrift (journals), bilder (photos), musikk, kart (maps), film, plakater (posters), noter (sheet music), radio, fjernsyn. See get_aggregations(q="*", group_by="mediatype") for the full list with counts.
`language`	optional	union	Language filter - values are inconsistent in the catalog (mixes codes like "nob" and labels like "Norsk bokmål"); check get_aggregations(q=q, group_by="languages") first if unsure.
`county`	optional	union	Norwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".
`year_from`	optional	union	Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
`year_to`	optional	union	Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
`digital_only`	optional	boolean	Only items that have been digitized.
`sort`	optional	union	One of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).
`page`	optional	integer	Zero-based page index.
`size`	optional	integer	Results per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).
`limit`	optional	integer	Gateway page size; default 25, maximum 100.
`offset`	optional	integer	Number of list items to skip; default 0.

Generated JavaScript, Python and response structure

Use JSON when the user requests code, machine-readable data, value extraction or further computation. Use the HTML GET page to identify the correct source and verify parameters.

Example for generated JavaScript and Python

https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0

Replace URL placeholders and remove unused optional parameters.

JavaScript in a dashboard

const url = "https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) {
  const failure = await response.json();
  throw new Error(`${failure.error.code}: ${failure.error.message} ${failure.suggestion}`);
}
const result = await response.json();
const data = result.data;

Python without additional packages

import json
from urllib.request import urlopen

url = "https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0"
with urlopen(url) as response:
    result = json.load(response)
data = result["data"]

Response structure

{
  "source": "nasjonalbiblioteket",
  "operation": "search",
  "parameters": {},
  "data": {},
  "entities": [],
  "_meta": {"retrieved_at": "...", "sources": [], "cache": {}},
  "_links": {"self": "...", "source": "...", "wiki": "...", "feedback": "..."}
}

Form for manual use

The form is a fallback for people and browser agents that cannot open the GET URL directly.

q (required) Type: string. Free-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.

media_type Type: string. Restrict to one type, e.g. aviser (newspapers), bøker (books), tidsskrift (journals), bilder (photos), musikk, kart (maps), film, plakater (posters), noter (sheet music), radio, fjernsyn. See get_aggregations(q="*", group_by="mediatype") for the full list with counts.

language Type: string. Language filter - values are inconsistent in the catalog (mixes codes like "nob" and labels like "Norsk bokmål"); check get_aggregations(q=q, group_by="languages") first if unsure.

county Type: string. Norwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".

year_from Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).

year_to Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).

digital_only Type: yes/no. Only items that have been digitized.

sort Type: string. One of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).

page Type: integer. Zero-based page index.

size Type: integer. Results per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).

Result

Source: National Library of Norway. Retrieved 2026-09-25T16:41:56Z in 0.197 seconds.

total:

10655

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
89f48dcc0a848c4d4f27feb3eaeb5e68
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Le Crayon ; Propos de table
creators:
1 results
1. Costaz, Gilles
year:
1991
publisher:
L'Avant-scène
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. fre
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/89f48dcc0a848c4d4f27feb3eaeb5e68
id:
b854dd2c6dc22099a28c4427068b8ce2
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Crayon angels
creators:
2 results
1. Sill, Judee
2. Stringfellow, Ken
year:
2008
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. musikk
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b854dd2c6dc22099a28c4427068b8ce2
id:
e644a94719c12ceec34002dc228f6cc1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_pliktmusikk_EAN_7090010940079_01_0001
title:
Crayon Angel
creators:
2 results
1. Stringfellow, Ken
2. Sill, Judee
year:
20080407
publisher:
Sellout! Music
media_types:
1 results
1. musikk
languages:
1 results
1. und
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e644a94719c12ceec34002dc228f6cc1
id:
38a9d15dc6d29de97a976188b5ca5e29
urn:
not reported by source
title:
The Crayon miscellany
creators:
1 results
1. Irving, Washington
year:
1865
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/38a9d15dc6d29de97a976188b5ca5e29
id:
7cc3b4c847b9607f28adb3c5e957372b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_pliktmusikk_UPC_194491067274_01_0002
title:
Red Colored Crayon
creators:
2 results
1. Zerlina, Marion
2. Waade, Tony
year:
20190810
publisher:
Lydhagen
media_types:
1 results
1. musikk
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7cc3b4c847b9607f28adb3c5e957372b
id:
d825ba3924c8f2c07e351348bc4c5401
urn:
not reported by source
title:
The yellow crayon
creators:
1 results
1. Oppenheim, E. Phillips
year:
1910
publisher:
Ward, Lock
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d825ba3924c8f2c07e351348bc4c5401
id:
ae7dbf97b74674d4aeea089cac4c2634
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_pliktmusikk_UPC_194491067274_01_0005
title:
Red Coloured Crayon (acoustic)
creators:
2 results
1. Zerlina, Marion
2. Waade, Tony
year:
20190810
publisher:
Lydhagen
media_types:
1 results
1. musikk
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ae7dbf97b74674d4aeea089cac4c2634
id:
6c2df4849ffdc0352f6a1bb74b34e303
urn:
not reported by source
title:
M| khō kap sūa khrōng
creators:
2 results
1. Suwannā Krīangkraiphet
2. Crayon Style
year:
1990
publisher:
Plā taphīan
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. tha
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6c2df4849ffdc0352f6a1bb74b34e303
id:
fbaa388340b8b8c302a7b5b8e75a913f
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Sōng sahāi
creators:
2 results
1. Suwannā Krīangkraiphet
2. Crayon Style
year:
1990
publisher:
Plā taphīan
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. tha
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fbaa388340b8b8c302a7b5b8e75a913f
id:
a2659ed94eeec399e8fd64e8939f0378
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Phayā khrut kap taktæn
creators:
2 results
1. Suwannā Krīangkraiphet
2. Crayon Style
year:
1990
publisher:
Plā taphīan
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. tha
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a2659ed94eeec399e8fd64e8939f0378

limit:

offset:

returned:

has_more_results:

yes

truncated:

yes

next_offset:

Will you use the result in generated code?

Open the same result as JSON

Is data missing or incorrect? Send feedback about this result.

Continue exploring

How an AI agent should use this page

Ground rule: Navigate with HTML GET links to keep explanations and relationships. Use the page's JSON alternative only when concrete values must be extracted, compared or computed.

How to use the search lookup

Replace the placeholders in the HTML GET template; remove optional parameters you do not need.
Check types, units, limits and ID formats in the parameter table.
Follow linked results to canonical pages before combining sources.

Misreading to avoid: An empty list means "no results for this lookup". An error message or unavailable source does not mean the data does not exist.

Source-specific next step

Go to the source page for other operations. Use the JSON template only after the HTML result shows that the parameters and source are correct.

AI agent? Read the complete navigation and programming guide.