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 2026-09-27T17:34:58Z in 0.218 seconds.

total:

16661

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
1c62321e1464fd70b435f007ed1b5236
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018040948014
title:
Fabel : norsk for ungdomstrinnet : Lærebok
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2014
publisher:
Aschehoug
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
3 results
1. nno
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_digibok_2018040948014_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1c62321e1464fd70b435f007ed1b5236
id:
fe2e0737ccc9b9a836b1b834bf5acce0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018101007308
title:
Fabel : norsk for ungdomstrinnet : Lærebok 9
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2014
publisher:
Aschehoug
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
3 results
1. nno
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_digibok_2018101007308_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fe2e0737ccc9b9a836b1b834bf5acce0
id:
d3b52975bf4d0e8d6e48654eaf2c2b96
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026012883009_001
title:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge : årbok .... 2004
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2004
publisher:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge
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_2026012883009_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d3b52975bf4d0e8d6e48654eaf2c2b96
id:
0d94932dde0c15358272b2fe765e247d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026012883007_001
title:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge : årbok .... 2006
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2006
publisher:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge
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_2026012883007_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0d94932dde0c15358272b2fe765e247d
id:
77514fa27b3996cf8c67507590c703b2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026012883008_001
title:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge : årbok .... 2005
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2005
publisher:
Arkitektbedriftene i Norge
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_2026012883008_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/77514fa27b3996cf8c67507590c703b2
id:
d4c2382ee62f074d858aa60f4023036a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013050707001
title:
Norsk kunstnerleksikon : bildende kunstnere, arkitekter, kunsthåndverkere. B. 1 : A-G
creators:
1 results
1. Nasjonalgalleriet
year:
1982
publisher:
Universitetsforl.
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_2013050707001_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d4c2382ee62f074d858aa60f4023036a
id:
969133d910fb92bfef44041cee4bed5d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012120524004
title:
Norsk kunstnerleksikon : bildende kunstnere, arkitekter, kunsthåndverkere. B. 2 : H-M
creators:
1 results
1. Nasjonalgalleriet
year:
1983
publisher:
Universitetsforl.
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_2012120524004_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/969133d910fb92bfef44041cee4bed5d
id:
09e956687f8edcd510a7be1b34f86423
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012120524001
title:
Norsk kunstnerleksikon : bildende kunstnere, arkitekter, kunsthåndverkere. B. 4 : Sp-Å
creators:
1 results
1. Nasjonalgalleriet
year:
1986
publisher:
Universitetsforl.
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_2012120524001_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/09e956687f8edcd510a7be1b34f86423
id:
be59ddc3cf24b9c6211c32d92e09aa25
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013071506011
title:
Verdensborger i 100 år : Hundreårsmarkeringen-Norge 2005 AS : samarbeidsprosjekter
creators:
1 results
1. Hundreårsmarkeringen - Norge 2005
year:
2006
publisher:
Hundreårsmarkeringen-Norge 2005 AS
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_2013071506011_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/be59ddc3cf24b9c6211c32d92e09aa25
id:
0c8511ff9f9e3deb85c38e61c00dccff
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2020120882020_001
title:
Norges statskalender (trykt utg.) : fortegnelse over konstitusjonelle organer og statsforvaltning m.v. = Norwegian government yearbook .... 1923
creators:
1 results
1. InfoMediaHuset AS
year:
1923
publisher:
Kommuneforl.
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
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_digitidsskrift_2020120882020_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0c8511ff9f9e3deb85c38e61c00dccff

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.