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.

ParameterRequirementJSON typeDescription
qrequiredstringFree-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.
media_typeoptionalunionRestrict 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.
languageoptionalunionLanguage 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.
countyoptionalunionNorwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".
year_fromoptionalunionRestrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
year_tooptionalunionRestrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
digital_onlyoptionalbooleanOnly items that have been digitized.
sortoptionalunionOne of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).
pageoptionalintegerZero-based page index.
sizeoptionalintegerResults per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).
limitoptionalintegerGateway page size; default 25, maximum 100.
offsetoptionalintegerNumber 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.

Type: string. Free-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.
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.
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.
Type: string. Norwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".
Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
Type: yes/no. Only items that have been digitized.
Type: string. One of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).
Type: integer. Zero-based page index.
Type: integer. Results per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).

Result

Source: National Library of Norway. Retrieved 2026-09-26T04:12:07Z in 0.216 seconds.

total:
87361
page:
0
size:
10
items:

10 results

  1. id:
    072cee554f2b393e992b6f4032884f30
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022783068_001
    title:
    Konsern årsberetning. 2020
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    2020
    publisher:
    Bama-gruppen
    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_2024022783068_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/072cee554f2b393e992b6f4032884f30
  2. id:
    d0764926072d74d3597a009402ca921d
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022783067_001
    title:
    Konsern årsberetning. 2021
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    2021
    publisher:
    Bama-gruppen
    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_2024022783067_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/d0764926072d74d3597a009402ca921d
  3. id:
    66f666577ad4d5e5e8309f7acaa7253b
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023041883243_001
    title:
    Annual report (trykt utg.). 2020
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    2020
    publisher:
    Bama-gruppen
    media_types:

    1 results

    1. tidsskrift
    languages:

    1 results

    1. eng
    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_2023041883243_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/66f666577ad4d5e5e8309f7acaa7253b
  4. id:
    6c935a9035cb4031dfbab3d8dc510b70
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023110683042_001
    title:
    Annual report (trykt utg.). 2021
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    2021
    publisher:
    Bama-gruppen
    media_types:

    1 results

    1. tidsskrift
    languages:

    1 results

    1. eng
    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_2023110683042_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/6c935a9035cb4031dfbab3d8dc510b70
  5. id:
    0fd8989d28896a06961237cadccfa943
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2021122848105
    title:
    Potetmesterens kokebok
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    not reported by source
    publisher:
    BAMA Gruppen AS
    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_2021122848105_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/0fd8989d28896a06961237cadccfa943
  6. id:
    17be5eb4041104b13e920108feccba57
    urn:
    not reported by source
    title:
    Grill- og sommermat med Prima Norsk grønnsaker
    creators:

    1 results

    1. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    not reported by source
    publisher:
    BAMA Gruppen
    media_types:

    1 results

    1. bøker
    languages:

    1 results

    1. nob
    county:
    not reported by source
    digital:
    no
    public_domain:
    no
    license:
    copyrighted
    viewability:
    NONE
    access_allowed_from:
    NB
    thumbnail:
    not reported by source
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/17be5eb4041104b13e920108feccba57
  7. id:
    15ce8d59a97f01e14f1d542dbfda82f4
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2022081948618
    title:
    En fersk historie : BAMA 125 år
    creators:

    5 results

    1. Lee, Irina
    2. Linnert, Hanne
    3. Jensen, Ingebrigt Steen
    4. Szacinski, Ludwik
    5. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    2011
    publisher:
    Kagge forlag
    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_2022081948618_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/15ce8d59a97f01e14f1d542dbfda82f4
  8. id:
    7dd7d6efa26f47876a8f675065049242
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2021102548012
    title:
    Lær mer om salat
    creators:

    2 results

    1. Holthe, Kim
    2. BAMA-gruppen
    year:
    not reported by source
    publisher:
    BAMA gruppen
    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_2021102548012_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/7dd7d6efa26f47876a8f675065049242
  9. id:
    9d298a52aac73152a72effd5374652d8
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024040880017_002
    title:
    Gressavisen : informasjonsavis fra Gress-gruppen. 2007 Nr. 3
    creators:

    1 results

    1. Gress-gruppen
    year:
    2007
    publisher:
    Gress-gruppen
    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_2024040880017_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/9d298a52aac73152a72effd5374652d8
  10. id:
    50c8b299002acc08b648c307245cd858
    urn:
    URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024041780010_001
    title:
    Gressavisen : informasjonsavis fra Gress-gruppen. 2008 Nr. 1
    creators:

    1 results

    1. Gress-gruppen
    year:
    2008
    publisher:
    Gress-gruppen
    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_2024041780010_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
    viewer_url:
    https://www.nb.no/items/50c8b299002acc08b648c307245cd858
limit:
25
offset:
0
returned:
10
has_more_results:
yes
truncated:
yes
next_offset:
10
Will you use the result in generated code?

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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

  1. Replace the placeholders in the HTML GET template; remove optional parameters you do not need.
  2. Check types, units, limits and ID formats in the parameter table.
  3. 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.