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 2026-09-27T18:51:13Z in 0.229 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
8b0254c0024b6cc3deab32954c6eccfa
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_more_null_null_19221216_20_96_1
title:
Møre
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19221216
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Møre og Romsdal
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_more_null_null_19221216_20_96_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8b0254c0024b6cc3deab32954c6eccfa
id:
ec00cb6dce2776f3937cbd5320d62843
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_oerebladet_null_null_19051021_15_247_1
title:
Ørebladet
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19051021
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:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_oerebladet_null_null_19051021_15_247_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ec00cb6dce2776f3937cbd5320d62843
id:
b9bf71cb876f764fa6cbacfb7bade77d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_telen_null_null_19561203_29_270_1
title:
Telen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19561203
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Telemark
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_telen_null_null_19561203_29_270_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b9bf71cb876f764fa6cbacfb7bade77d
id:
9a44bc6778db7f2d950c27c65fe5a3a1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_samhold_null_null_19190912_36_104_1
title:
Samhold (Gjøvik: 1885-1920)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19190912
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:
ccbyncnd
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_samhold_null_null_19190912_36_104_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9a44bc6778db7f2d950c27c65fe5a3a1
id:
15bf2c184b5e259c36dd0a96b6b99082
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025031180044_008
title:
Tidsskrift for hermetikindustri = : Norwegian canners export journal. 1941 Vol. 27 Nr. 8
creators:
1 results
1. De norske hermetikkfabrikkers landsforening
year:
1941
publisher:
De norske hermetikfabrikers landsforening
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. eng
2. nob
3. mul
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_2025031180044_008_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/15bf2c184b5e259c36dd0a96b6b99082
id:
abfebeae68d1bcaa98cfa50ea4bc87ec
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergenstidende_null_null_18750819_8_191_1
title:
Bergens Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18750819
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_bergenstidende_null_null_18750819_8_191_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/abfebeae68d1bcaa98cfa50ea4bc87ec
id:
030f4b5c36599a3de64f36f963c8e7f5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024010880004_009
title:
Bil & trafikk (Sarpsborg). 2005 Vol. 12 Nr. 9
creators:
1 results
1. Markér avisbyrå
year:
2005
publisher:
Bil & trafikk
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_2024010880004_009_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/030f4b5c36599a3de64f36f963c8e7f5
id:
7c56d00a01e4a96e1144edead858053e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergenstidende_null_null_18980328_31_116_1
title:
Bergens Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18980328
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_bergenstidende_null_null_18980328_31_116_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7c56d00a01e4a96e1144edead858053e
id:
b622a2d13d8f46e0d1bba353f75544cc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ofotenstidende_null_null_19660118_68_7_1
title:
Ofotens Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19660118
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_ofotenstidende_null_null_19660118_68_7_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b622a2d13d8f46e0d1bba353f75544cc
id:
40a12b8b4ec5e5d4e890595982804aff
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024010880019_007
title:
Handelsbladet FK : gjør god butikk bedre. 2006 Nr. 36
creators:
1 results
1. Norges colonialgrossisters forbund
year:
2006
publisher:
Medier og ledelse
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_2024010880019_007_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/40a12b8b4ec5e5d4e890595982804aff

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.