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 2026-10-03T18:08:18Z in 0.262 seconds.

total:

1162

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
3048bc08cc279685d26eed071b7363ec
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_arbeidetsrett_null_null_20180914_112_108_1
title:
Arbeidets Rett
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20180914
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_arbeidetsrett_null_null_20180914_112_108_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3048bc08cc279685d26eed071b7363ec
id:
dcb68a06f35b6ecc113964d71ae43be0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_arbeidetsrett_null_null_20160715_110_81_1
title:
Arbeidets Rett
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160715
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_arbeidetsrett_null_null_20160715_110_81_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/dcb68a06f35b6ecc113964d71ae43be0
id:
4d3a9e6ebf024a602dbe3c32366d8b2e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlendingen_null_null_20160715_116_161_1
title:
Østlendingen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160715
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:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
LIBRARY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlendingen_null_null_20160715_116_161_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4d3a9e6ebf024a602dbe3c32366d8b2e
id:
ee6f3fdda50cb4658f734dfc34df13ea
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_norskeintelligenssedler_null_null_17980314_36_11_1
title:
Norske Intelligenssedler
creators:
not reported by source
year:
17980314
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
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_digavis_norskeintelligenssedler_null_null_17980314_36_11_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ee6f3fdda50cb4658f734dfc34df13ea
id:
551d5373e9f0949f2cb729b81ceaacea
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_duluthskandinav_null_null_19350719_48_29_1
title:
Duluth Skandinav
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19350719
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_duluthskandinav_null_null_19350719_48_29_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/551d5373e9f0949f2cb729b81ceaacea
id:
d16776c9bb25e2090f9d75cb3f287ff9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_duluthskandinav_null_null_19350823_48_34_1
title:
Duluth Skandinav
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19350823
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_duluthskandinav_null_null_19350823_48_34_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d16776c9bb25e2090f9d75cb3f287ff9
id:
90539c5e4c09a7fd2da66b459cc2a455
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023100480040_015
title:
Hjemmets og Arbeiderens Ven. 1897 Vol. 22 Nr. 15
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1897
publisher:
S. Mittet
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. nno
2. nob
3. mul
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2023100480040_015_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/90539c5e4c09a7fd2da66b459cc2a455
id:
f0ade01a91b4eea3014abe2351ea369b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_mosstilskuer_null_null_18990520_61_77_1
title:
Moss Tilskuer
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18990520
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:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_mosstilskuer_null_null_18990520_61_77_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f0ade01a91b4eea3014abe2351ea369b
id:
5dd195302b52a9e719c47913ae44ecae
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_kongsbergdagblad_null_null_19181119_32_264_1
title:
Kongsberg Dagblad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19181119
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_kongsbergdagblad_null_null_19181119_32_264_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5dd195302b52a9e719c47913ae44ecae
id:
c11b7fba6385027511fd6b59990a6622
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_indherredsposten_null_null_18781213_17_96_1
title:
Indherredsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18781213
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_digavis_indherredsposten_null_null_18781213_17_96_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c11b7fba6385027511fd6b59990a6622

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.