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 2026-09-24T15:51:08Z in 0.175 seconds.

total:

7030

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
81245ecb01a4bcc13a3a4fc6e2c04e4a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_plikttidsskrift_b45bcd0c-195d-4b2d-a36c-898982e213ea
title:
Årsrapport ... for DDV Strategi og DDV Drift. 2021
creators:
3 results
1. Det digitale Vestre Agder
2. DDV Strategi
3. DDV Drift
year:
2021
publisher:
Det digitale Vestre Agder
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_plikttidsskrift_b45bcd0c-195d-4b2d-a36c-898982e213ea_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/81245ecb01a4bcc13a3a4fc6e2c04e4a
id:
82c79637600d2db551fa9d92e625ebef
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022042583257_001
title:
Årsrapport ... for DDV Strategi og DDV Drift. 2020
creators:
3 results
1. Det digitale Vestre Agder
2. DDV Strategi
3. DDV Drift
year:
2020
publisher:
Det digitale Vestre Agder
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_2022042583257_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/82c79637600d2db551fa9d92e625ebef
id:
d17ae6e711c82c9f55f8a0f9009e539b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2021070548580
title:
Lokaldemokratiet på nett og i nett
creators:
1 results
1. Haug, Are Vegard
year:
2009
publisher:
Unipub
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_2021070548580_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d17ae6e711c82c9f55f8a0f9009e539b
id:
37b9b2225798c91953a86b71c097e683
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_lindesnes_null_null_20150330_127_50_1
title:
Lindesnes
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20150330
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_20150330_127_50_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/37b9b2225798c91953a86b71c097e683
id:
ec652d5b08c96e7e7a65995f94467875
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_agder_null_null_20140319_139_33_1
title:
Agder (Flekkefjord: 1877-1940, 1945-)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140319
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_agder_null_null_20140319_139_33_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ec652d5b08c96e7e7a65995f94467875
id:
4227b74bf637b091b126862f087dc8fc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007110110001
title:
Platonis libri VIII. Apologia Socratis, Crito, Alcibiades uterque, Meno, Hippias major, Symposium, Phaedrus. Scholarum in usum ad optimas recensiones diligenter expressi. Particula prima
creators:
2 results
1. Platon
2. Sverdrup, Georg
year:
1811
publisher:
Apud Frid. Brummer
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
2 results
1. grc
2. lat
county:
not reported by source
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_digibok_2007110110001_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4227b74bf637b091b126862f087dc8fc
id:
0019b4e7a45b02a690cdac3591ec6484
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_lindesnes_null_null_20140319_126_66_1
title:
Lindesnes
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140319
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_20140319_126_66_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0019b4e7a45b02a690cdac3591ec6484
id:
07dc6f402f2dc9d3c2b39de166d598ac
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_agder_null_null_20141126_139_138_1
title:
Agder (Flekkefjord: 1877-1940, 1945-)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20141126
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_agder_null_null_20141126_139_138_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/07dc6f402f2dc9d3c2b39de166d598ac
id:
d9112e751190df8a392a1488c334a788
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016082908127
title:
Mechanical design of high performance mechanisms
creators:
2 results
1. Hildre, Hans Petter
2. Norges tekniske høgskole Institutt for maskinkonstruksjon
year:
1992
publisher:
Norwegian Institute of Technology, Division of Machine Design
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_2016082908127_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d9112e751190df8a392a1488c334a788
id:
0a0daec7f9a1164e66e078aa92f1f132
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026021280039_006
title:
Beretning : generalforsamlingene på .... 2008/2009
creators:
2 results
1. Norske rørleggerbedrifters landsforening - VVS
2. Rørleggerbedriftenes servicekontor - VVS
year:
2008
publisher:
Foreningen
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_2026021280039_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0a0daec7f9a1164e66e078aa92f1f132

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.