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 2026-09-26T09:07:23Z in 0.217 seconds.

total:

113

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
85203bc7b2b6dc49534aa5d330e2cbb0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024032080044_006
title:
Motorliv (Oslo). 1970 Nr. 7/8
creators:
1 results
1. Kongelig norsk automobilklub
year:
1970
publisher:
KNA-forlaget
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. und
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_2024032080044_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/85203bc7b2b6dc49534aa5d330e2cbb0
id:
a70dc35483cb44096468ff2e11ba5f20
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_venneslatidende_null_null_20260424_38_32_1
title:
Vennesla Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20260424
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Agder
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_venneslatidende_null_null_20260424_38_32_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a70dc35483cb44096468ff2e11ba5f20
id:
2076e901009a32112f6f8db28c7c209f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_norsklysingsblad_null_null_19721013_91_237_1
title:
Norsk Lysingsblad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19721013
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_norsklysingsblad_null_null_19721013_91_237_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2076e901009a32112f6f8db28c7c209f
id:
ab2c052bab92d5d9d67173f237c19cce
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_budstikkaforaskerogb_null_null_20240113_127_11_1
title:
Budstikka (Asker og Bærum)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20240113
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_budstikkaforaskerogb_null_null_20240113_127_11_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ab2c052bab92d5d9d67173f237c19cce
id:
06f294f11d3c022a2bf57fb66620aa59
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_norgeshandelsogsjoefartstidende_null_null_19720506_83_103_1
title:
Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19720506
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:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_norgeshandelsogsjoefartstidende_null_null_19720506_83_103_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/06f294f11d3c022a2bf57fb66620aa59
id:
006a5c66b7c31fc67c7768775f71c428
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_dittoslosthanshaugen_null_null_20121018_20_30_1
title:
Ditt Oslo (St. Hanshaugen)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20121018
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:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_dittoslosthanshaugen_null_null_20121018_20_30_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/006a5c66b7c31fc67c7768775f71c428
id:
8d21a13bbe9d2acb079afdafb6160318
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_dittoslofrogner_null_null_20121018_20_30_1
title:
Ditt Oslo (Frogner)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20121018
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:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_dittoslofrogner_null_null_20121018_20_30_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8d21a13bbe9d2acb079afdafb6160318
id:
aa11e4a5f4ee3c1f0c1d7f7f6c2d08fa
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_lindesnes_null_null_20171014_129_157_1
title:
Lindesnes
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20171014
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Agder
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_lindesnes_null_null_20171014_129_157_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/aa11e4a5f4ee3c1f0c1d7f7f6c2d08fa
id:
6cd938ecc64b27945b2b7ebfb390ba84
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_austagderblad_null_null_20160209_163_16_1
title:
Aust-Agder Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160209
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Agder
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_austagderblad_null_null_20160209_163_16_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6cd938ecc64b27945b2b7ebfb390ba84
id:
3ec15e4c4e67c1e240b57b762436ebf1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_austagderblad_null_null_20160929_163_111_1
title:
Aust-Agder Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160929
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Agder
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_austagderblad_null_null_20160929_163_111_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3ec15e4c4e67c1e240b57b762436ebf1

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.