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 2026-09-27T03:52:23Z in 0.191 seconds.

total:

97793

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
769f2ed13dc4ef943856321f6c352b8d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023022282006_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2022
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2022
publisher:
Flatanger historielag
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_2023022282006_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/769f2ed13dc4ef943856321f6c352b8d
id:
f3eb8e4ee87de6985a9450f6c2fc3e2a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026010282005_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2025
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2025
publisher:
Flatanger historielag
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_2026010282005_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f3eb8e4ee87de6985a9450f6c2fc3e2a
id:
eb53a08e1cffbda92c2380c3190c2f9b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781057_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2002 9
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2002
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781057_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/eb53a08e1cffbda92c2380c3190c2f9b
id:
63840774c98cd27209bd3c65fad2f291
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781051_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 1996 3
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
1996
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781051_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/63840774c98cd27209bd3c65fad2f291
id:
ff76fa9862c956822b19f52751d58aa8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781055_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2000 7
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2000
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781055_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ff76fa9862c956822b19f52751d58aa8
id:
f4d4b2438adb80903ec222b159048810
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781052_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 1997 4
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
1997
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781052_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f4d4b2438adb80903ec222b159048810
id:
5428987ad151423f5a36b2ddca067a25
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781054_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 1999 6
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
1999
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781054_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5428987ad151423f5a36b2ddca067a25
id:
ec1ff4f24a8fbf0465e75456558d15d7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781056_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2001 8
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2001
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781056_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ec1ff4f24a8fbf0465e75456558d15d7
id:
6bfd8c4b7e872167a109cc41c08d86ff
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2019032781053_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 1998 5
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
1998
publisher:
Laget
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_2019032781053_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6bfd8c4b7e872167a109cc41c08d86ff
id:
3c13a56ea987cca63a9849373945e000
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2020111381134_001
title:
Årbok for Flatanger. 2004 11
creators:
1 results
1. Flatanger historielag
year:
2004
publisher:
Laget
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_2020111381134_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3c13a56ea987cca63a9849373945e000

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.