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 2026-09-26T21:16:14Z in 0.214 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
d7a7783a1ca64ad08e22f76b54053f61
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007012601035
title:
Vedtak på den Internasjonale konferanse om sikkerhet for menneskeliv til sjøs 1948 : den engleske tekst med oversettelse til norsk
creators:
1 results
1. International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea
year:
1950
publisher:
I kommisjon hos Grøndahl
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
bokhylla
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NORWAY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007012601035_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d7a7783a1ca64ad08e22f76b54053f61
id:
e7aa5f4427b2f11c64bebd735934e62f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025052280068_002
title:
Bevis : kontaktorgan for Kriminalteknisk forum. 2007 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2007
publisher:
Kriminalteknisk forum
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_2025052280068_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e7aa5f4427b2f11c64bebd735934e62f
id:
164b8dcbfbe97a1e76975b743045d3ed
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024032583001_001
title:
Kriminalteknisk felthåndbok. 2008
creators:
1 results
1. Kriminalteknisk forum
year:
2008
publisher:
Kriminalteknisk forum
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_2024032583001_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/164b8dcbfbe97a1e76975b743045d3ed
id:
8d4cd371df4cdab14caef0c54faea5e7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_den17demai_null_null_19171214_24_290_1
title:
Den 17de mai
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19171214
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_den17demai_null_null_19171214_24_290_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8d4cd371df4cdab14caef0c54faea5e7
id:
009996dc40ff2b3225aff788149c5cf2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025052280071_002
title:
Bevis : kontaktorgan for Kriminalteknisk forum. 2003 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2003
publisher:
Kriminalteknisk forum
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_2025052280071_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/009996dc40ff2b3225aff788149c5cf2
id:
71cd5caf7efce0e5d5d22a60c77a9df7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025040880002_008
title:
Ringsaker'n. 2013 Vol. 22 Nr. 15
creators:
1 results
1. Moelv handelstandsforening
year:
2013
publisher:
Arjos reklame
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_2025040880002_008_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/71cd5caf7efce0e5d5d22a60c77a9df7
id:
9aed5051a2c2ef7895570af300479e36
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordisktidende_null_null_19110216_21_7_1
title:
Nordisk Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19110216
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Utlandet
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_nordisktidende_null_null_19110216_21_7_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9aed5051a2c2ef7895570af300479e36
id:
ea1461799bcf513cf941a8d498e2d8c8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_opplandarbeiderblad_null_null_20060107_83_6_1
title:
Oppland Arbeiderblad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20060107
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_opplandarbeiderblad_null_null_20060107_83_6_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ea1461799bcf513cf941a8d498e2d8c8
id:
7f2a24bba257e48a86efa2dba662e045
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_null_null_19650928_106_445_1
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19650928
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_19650928_106_445_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7f2a24bba257e48a86efa2dba662e045
id:
866dd126e13bf76677863946cdc28307
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_null_null_19781104_119_510_1
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19781104
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_19781104_119_510_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/866dd126e13bf76677863946cdc28307

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.