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 2026-09-24T22:15:18Z in 0.392 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
a444f0e27dd960a3d299930a0b3c24fc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025080783065_001
title:
Norske bransjemagasinet. Juni 2025
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2025
publisher:
R&D forl.
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_2025080783065_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a444f0e27dd960a3d299930a0b3c24fc
id:
40eeec6e984e683b4cb87f2fa7ccad78
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_tronderbladetmelhus_null_null_20110430_33_49_1
title:
Trønderbladet (Melhus: 1979- )
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20110430
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_tronderbladetmelhus_null_null_20110430_33_49_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/40eeec6e984e683b4cb87f2fa7ccad78
id:
ad5ae3ba8e52b38d89057d04fc177aab
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_gaula_null_null_20210701_21_24_1
title:
Gaula (Melhus: 2001-)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20210701
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_gaula_null_null_20210701_21_24_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ad5ae3ba8e52b38d89057d04fc177aab
id:
b4030a298216ff00e0355a0520fbf6e6
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_grenda_null_null_20050823_55_88_1
title:
Grenda
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20050823
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:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_grenda_null_null_20050823_55_88_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b4030a298216ff00e0355a0520fbf6e6
id:
03e9de6ebe8b8e6417ad8f64d5386a49
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_gaula_null_null_20080507_8_18_1
title:
Gaula (Melhus: 2001-)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20080507
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
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_gaula_null_null_20080507_8_18_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/03e9de6ebe8b8e6417ad8f64d5386a49
id:
ed61e91443052f0c8aaa8de63e191525
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024061980038_011
title:
Båtliv (Norsk maritimt forlag). 2016 Vol. 22 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2016
publisher:
Norsk maritimt forl.
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_2024061980038_011_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ed61e91443052f0c8aaa8de63e191525
id:
72aa60e24e9a4c6b195e783b38830cf5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022120683140_001
title:
Våre veger. 2022 Vol. 49 Nr. 9
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2022
publisher:
Teknisk ukeblad media
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_2022120683140_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/72aa60e24e9a4c6b195e783b38830cf5
id:
c3a53660a3f28953890402edef9d8ee4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025061980003_010
title:
Våre veger. 2012 Vol. 39 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2012
publisher:
Teknisk ukeblad media
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_2025061980003_010_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c3a53660a3f28953890402edef9d8ee4
id:
38eb2ba1a6adcf5a50540ba6e6825587
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023012083189_001
title:
Våre veger. 2022 Vol. 49 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2022
publisher:
Teknisk ukeblad media
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_2023012083189_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/38eb2ba1a6adcf5a50540ba6e6825587
id:
5f71dfa0b726c54f20776a7c9db4a027
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025061980002_010
title:
Våre veger. 2011 Vol. 38 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2011
publisher:
Teknisk ukeblad media
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_2025061980002_010_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5f71dfa0b726c54f20776a7c9db4a027

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.