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 2026-09-25T20:04:07Z in 0.182 seconds.

total:

186

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
4bdf66d87ec2ed21ec4233c12fe61c33
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2020120882094_001
title:
Norges statskalender (trykt utg.) : fortegnelse over konstitusjonelle organer og statsforvaltning m.v. = Norwegian government yearbook .... 1919
creators:
1 results
1. InfoMediaHuset AS
year:
1919
publisher:
Kommuneforl.
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
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_digitidsskrift_2020120882094_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4bdf66d87ec2ed21ec4233c12fe61c33
id:
af95eba82b37a1271bb0967c277424e7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20211220_30_295_1
title:
Finansavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20211220
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
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_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20211220_30_295_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/af95eba82b37a1271bb0967c277424e7
id:
efc33b558e84c1a71f170ff778af181f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20191230_28_302_1
title:
Finansavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20191230
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
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_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20191230_28_302_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/efc33b558e84c1a71f170ff778af181f
id:
09df61d8b22d5070886d9470c9a1c2af
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisamoss_null_null_20151118_6_245_1
title:
Byavisa Moss
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20151118
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk
county:
Østfold
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisamoss_null_null_20151118_6_245_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/09df61d8b22d5070886d9470c9a1c2af
id:
ed128b65d9fdc59d7eb5218ecf7e1e71
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nationen_null_null_20160604_24_126_1
title:
Nationen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160604
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
LIBRARY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nationen_null_null_20160604_24_126_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ed128b65d9fdc59d7eb5218ecf7e1e71
id:
e032e516ee3573046c17e2b796ef5769
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisamoss_null_null_20160316_7_11_1
title:
Byavisa Moss
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160316
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk
county:
Østfold
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisamoss_null_null_20160316_7_11_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e032e516ee3573046c17e2b796ef5769
id:
19303faab9f08a1c7ead0f8dc0657bce
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisafredrikstad_null_null_20160406_5_199_1
title:
Byavisa Fredrikstad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160406
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk
county:
Østfold
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_digavis_byavisafredrikstad_null_null_20160406_5_199_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/19303faab9f08a1c7ead0f8dc0657bce
id:
b55ac372281a5a303b2dcb711b2f6152
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025041480012_010
title:
Computerworld (Oslo : trykt utg.). 2016 Vol. 34 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2016
publisher:
Computer Communications
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
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_digitidsskrift_2025041480012_010_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b55ac372281a5a303b2dcb711b2f6152
id:
aaf3cf676feb4dc6052c90d1702e1a4c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_mossavis_null_null_20210804_145_177_1
title:
Moss Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20210804
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Østfold
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
LIBRARY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_mossavis_null_null_20210804_145_177_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/aaf3cf676feb4dc6052c90d1702e1a4c
id:
ac5fafa0d3b6a41db7095fc9a535cd64
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20221114_31_265_1
title:
Finansavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20221114
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
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_digavis_finansavisen_null_null_20221114_31_265_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ac5fafa0d3b6a41db7095fc9a535cd64

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.