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 2026-09-22T06:54:02Z in 0.212 seconds.

total:

437976

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
ac310b8b928c59b3d20e7bca7224c108
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007121204020
title:
Bedriftsklubben Aker Offshore Partner 20 år : 1974-1994
creators:
1 results
1. Bedriftsklubben Aker Offshore Partner
year:
1994
publisher:
Klubben
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_2007121204020_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ac310b8b928c59b3d20e7bca7224c108
id:
b3de5a60e508918ec748aea658b1d911
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_plikttidsskrift_7a5f63f1-8542-40ef-a86f-9396daf13c1f
title:
Oslo design fair. 2023 6
creators:
1 results
1. Oslo design fair
year:
2023
publisher:
Oslo design fair
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_7a5f63f1-8542-40ef-a86f-9396daf13c1f_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b3de5a60e508918ec748aea658b1d911
id:
d1e52f143baa98aac8b2895fb22bed9b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023091983134_001
title:
Oslo design fair. 2023 6
creators:
1 results
1. Oslo design fair
year:
2023
publisher:
Oslo design fair
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_2023091983134_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d1e52f143baa98aac8b2895fb22bed9b
id:
f9a3f6a95758168f0477ced4bda183e9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022092783204_001
title:
Oslo design fair. 2022 4
creators:
1 results
1. Oslo design fair
year:
2022
publisher:
Oslo design fair
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_2022092783204_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f9a3f6a95758168f0477ced4bda183e9
id:
78a0c0280717a678645951925ad204da
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024060680001_001
title:
Oslo design fair. januar 2020 1
creators:
1 results
1. Oslo design fair
year:
2020
publisher:
Oslo design fair
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_2024060680001_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/78a0c0280717a678645951925ad204da
id:
63f126badee1efddf3a80f21143a0c4c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010050603058
title:
Det 20. århundrets design
creators:
4 results
1. McDermott, Catherine
2. Haugøy, Grethe
3. Design Museum
4. Lervik, Leif Magne
year:
1999
publisher:
Schibsted
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_2010050603058_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/63f126badee1efddf3a80f21143a0c4c
id:
8f8b82d3dc47878708a269622588ec2e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026022380056_007
title:
Best of Scandinavian news design. 2016
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2016
publisher:
Society for News Design Scandinavia
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
6 results
1. eng
2. dan
3. nob
4. swe
5. mul
6. fin
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_2026022380056_007_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8f8b82d3dc47878708a269622588ec2e
id:
593653b92f437d97ad47a0001119affc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026022380056_006
title:
Best of Scandinavian news design. 2013
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2013
publisher:
Society for News Design Scandinavia
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
6 results
1. eng
2. dan
3. nob
4. swe
5. mul
6. fin
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_2026022380056_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/593653b92f437d97ad47a0001119affc
id:
e5d32cad256cb5f1cf588544edfd53f3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026022380056_004
title:
Best of Scandinavian news design. 2011
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2011
publisher:
Society for News Design Scandinavia
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
6 results
1. eng
2. dan
3. nob
4. swe
5. mul
6. fin
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_2026022380056_004_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e5d32cad256cb5f1cf588544edfd53f3
id:
c5cb2345eef80eecc3c33c6075a520cb
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Narrative visualisation for co-design with a community partner
creators:
3 results
1. Fry, Aaron
2. Wilson, Jennifer
3. Overby, Carol J.
year:
2017
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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/c5cb2345eef80eecc3c33c6075a520cb

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.