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 2026-09-23T00:36:26Z in 0.221 seconds.

total:

22523

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
4b1fbd4de85134531626d42529b56a2f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017121948010
title:
Tove Jansson : arbeide og elske
creators:
2 results
1. Karjalainen, Tuula
2. Abildsnes, Morten
year:
2014
publisher:
Heinesen
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_2017121948010_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4b1fbd4de85134531626d42529b56a2f
id:
e060c951dededb0229c70d28de5d9085
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018013048025
title:
Tove Jansson : arbeide og elske
creators:
2 results
1. Karjalainen, Tuula
2. Abildsnes, Morten
year:
2015
publisher:
Heinesen
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_2018013048025_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e060c951dededb0229c70d28de5d9085
id:
79ee661baad7ee2adcb1d105d342bf3d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_byavisatrondheim_null_null_19990120_4_3_1
title:
Byavisa Trondheim
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19990120
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_byavisatrondheim_null_null_19990120_4_3_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/79ee661baad7ee2adcb1d105d342bf3d
id:
b4c4fd480a63da217f0265852f6466b9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_null_null_19550520_96_227_2
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19550520
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_aftenposten_null_null_19550520_96_227_2-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b4c4fd480a63da217f0265852f6466b9
id:
6134664f31629e5c730e3d354beecc5f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_null_null_19550520_96_227_2
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19550520
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_aftenposten_null_null_19550520_96_227_2-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6134664f31629e5c730e3d354beecc5f
id:
3f883a01e9320613b51c5dc29b0ee798
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hadeland_null_null_19980825_81_162_1
title:
Hadeland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19980825
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Innlandet
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hadeland_null_null_19980825_81_162_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3f883a01e9320613b51c5dc29b0ee798
id:
c4ffd870f42a5db5236ab257e5109914
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_fanaposten_null_null_20000218_23_14_1
title:
Fanaposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20000218
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_fanaposten_null_null_20000218_23_14_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c4ffd870f42a5db5236ab257e5109914
id:
c3ac8035da1c3b4b9a4ce3b43abb97d9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordstrandostreaker_null_null_19971105_73_81_1
title:
Nordstrand-Østre Aker Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19971105
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:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordstrandostreaker_null_null_19971105_73_81_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c3ac8035da1c3b4b9a4ce3b43abb97d9
id:
363bab068412cab5fae69268197d1184
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025031283004_001
title:
Bil (Fagbladforl.). 1998 Vol. 24 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1998
publisher:
Fagbladforl.
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_2025031283004_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/363bab068412cab5fae69268197d1184
id:
80188ffe10968e3d0b040c2ac614ee2c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_stjordalsnytt_null_null_20000209_16_6_1
title:
Stjørdals-Nytt
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20000209
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_stjordalsnytt_null_null_20000209_16_6_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/80188ffe10968e3d0b040c2ac614ee2c

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.