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 2026-09-23T19:16:16Z in 0.206 seconds.

total:

15600

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
fe95ee3c08f76dedee6c7bc6e432a06a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_19650226_19_16_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19650226
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_19650226_19_16_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fe95ee3c08f76dedee6c7bc6e432a06a
id:
d746f166364dd1e67a9ea318c33ec3bf
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20081231_61_200_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20081231
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20081231_61_200_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d746f166364dd1e67a9ea318c33ec3bf
id:
8ce8974a1641d55d40f26a39c6ec5eda
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20140918_68_104_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140918
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20140918_68_104_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8ce8974a1641d55d40f26a39c6ec5eda
id:
a0d526a843e33cd0a8b583a851a7ce8d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_19830412_37_40_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19830412
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_19830412_37_40_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a0d526a843e33cd0a8b583a851a7ce8d
id:
a0a0aee29b45dd128a91dbad3bf00da5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_19830503_37_49_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19830503
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_19830503_37_49_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a0a0aee29b45dd128a91dbad3bf00da5
id:
6191eaccc644b9964e6dd2357010e57e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20040124_57_13_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20040124
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20040124_57_13_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6191eaccc644b9964e6dd2357010e57e
id:
c8fd281f54a613690d9fd26583e339c9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20040211_57_23_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20040211
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20040211_57_23_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c8fd281f54a613690d9fd26583e339c9
id:
763df17205e7161c1a2c86718df8f290
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20100520_62_73_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20100520
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20100520_62_73_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/763df17205e7161c1a2c86718df8f290
id:
b23067f5c17a4ca44428b059ce8507e3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_20141016_68_116_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20141016
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_20141016_68_116_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b23067f5c17a4ca44428b059ce8507e3
id:
631a4bc40ab54f93d946db81353ff4ec
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_auraavis_null_null_19850502_39_49_1
title:
Aura Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19850502
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_auraavis_null_null_19850502_39_49_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/631a4bc40ab54f93d946db81353ff4ec

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.