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 2026-09-26T05:27:48Z in 0.240 seconds.

total:

1946124

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
070d30af833cc8785450de9eccb5adf0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20140801_00034_bldsa_PK18232
title:
535. Kone - Numedal
creators:
2 results
1. Ukjent
2. Mittet & Co. AS
year:
not reported by source
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bilder
languages:
No results.
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20140801_00034_bldsa_PK18232/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/070d30af833cc8785450de9eccb5adf0
id:
df90e652952688835e96b97141368ef5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20140801_00035_bldsa_PK18227
title:
534. Kone - Numedal
creators:
2 results
1. Ukjent
2. Mittet & Co. AS
year:
not reported by source
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bilder
languages:
No results.
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20140801_00035_bldsa_PK18227/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/df90e652952688835e96b97141368ef5
id:
de26944a9c9f8af311a94292e45f16cd
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2022030826003
title:
En ganske ny og meget sørgelig Vise og Beretning om Jordskjælvet i Kjøbenhavn, Nørre-, Vesterbro og nærmeste Omegn : som er observeret Natten mellem Løverdag og Søndag
creators:
1 results
1. En Kone
year:
1881
publisher:
Faaes til Forhandling paa Bogtrykkeriet, Skindergade 8, 1. S. o. G.
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. dan
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2022030826003_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/de26944a9c9f8af311a94292e45f16cd
id:
cccbb9c9294200261f52dc1b0af8650d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2019120477012
title:
Tigerens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Obreht, Téa
2. Middelthon, Marius
year:
2012
publisher:
Schibsted
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2019120477012_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/cccbb9c9294200261f52dc1b0af8650d
id:
973ec5d1a9fff5bcd11aed396c490c0d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013013008035
title:
Tigerens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Obreht, Téa
2. Middelthon, Marius
year:
2012
publisher:
Schibsted
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013013008035_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/973ec5d1a9fff5bcd11aed396c490c0d
id:
c994198364b575ef2f5f15e70cfc037b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014052308086
title:
Russisk kone
creators:
3 results
1. Kopsova, Natalia
2. Bielenberg, Tore-Jarl
3. Bøhler, Torgeir
year:
2007
publisher:
Danor forl.
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014052308086_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c994198364b575ef2f5f15e70cfc037b
id:
1ab86fa49a21ec57c906d55313bf8263
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2021010507676
title:
Fyrvokterens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Viggers, Karen
2. Kickstat, Ina Bakke
year:
2014
publisher:
Cappelen Damm
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2021010507676_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1ab86fa49a21ec57c906d55313bf8263
id:
baadfa4a8162a1fab993c4c74ea492d4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013070108213
title:
Fyrvokterens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Viggers, Karen
2. Kickstat, Ina Bakke
year:
2013
publisher:
Cappelen Damm
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013070108213_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/baadfa4a8162a1fab993c4c74ea492d4
id:
71911a9ac0b918e44c70684c684d042b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018072607214
title:
Tedyrkerens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Jefferies, Dinah
2. Aakre, Tiril Broch
year:
2015
publisher:
Vigmostad Bjørke
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018072607214_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/71911a9ac0b918e44c70684c684d042b
id:
01cbf1138b1254ac56887412d28a343b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020081807308
title:
Tedyrkerens kone
creators:
2 results
1. Jefferies, Dinah
2. Aakre, Tiril Broch
year:
2016
publisher:
Vigmostad Bjørke
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020081807308_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/01cbf1138b1254ac56887412d28a343b

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.