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 2026-09-26T03:26:13Z in 0.199 seconds.

total:

1396897

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
4a0dccb8fd6d38baedbf62a39e74b9fe
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014110308057
title:
Gran kommune 150 år : 1837-1987
creators:
1 results
1. Gran
year:
1987
publisher:
Gran kommune
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_2014110308057_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4a0dccb8fd6d38baedbf62a39e74b9fe
id:
9bdc6c3cdddf7bcfed2b4bb8f72f857a
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Gran kommune 150 år : 1837-1987
creators:
1 results
1. Gran
year:
19870101
publisher:
Kommunen
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nor
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9bdc6c3cdddf7bcfed2b4bb8f72f857a
id:
e2bee69aaa10115b70e9a1267b3c8915
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025040383001_001
title:
Gran=toppen. 2015 Nr. 7
creators:
2 results
1. Gran handel og håndverk
2. Gran handelssenter
year:
2015
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2025040383001_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e2bee69aaa10115b70e9a1267b3c8915
id:
34fc27d2c41340147b5f4b43d2718871
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022033183080_001
title:
Gran=toppen. 2022 Vol. 34 Nr. 1
creators:
2 results
1. Gran handel og håndverk
2. Gran handelssenter
year:
2022
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2022033183080_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/34fc27d2c41340147b5f4b43d2718871
id:
fe9f23e6305775ec79eb6c72e853202d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024020780027_008
title:
Gran=toppen. 2006 Vol. 18 Nr. 8
creators:
2 results
1. Gran handel og håndverk
2. Gran handelssenter
year:
2006
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2024020780027_008_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fe9f23e6305775ec79eb6c72e853202d
id:
1f5af81f0f269ac362c8d1c60f3e6818
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024020780029_002
title:
Gran=toppen. 2004 Vol. 16 Nr. 2
creators:
2 results
1. Gran handel og håndverk
2. Gran handelssenter
year:
2004
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2024020780029_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1f5af81f0f269ac362c8d1c60f3e6818
id:
1fc43143585e6e07c14ebdd572e555d0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026080680003_009
title:
Gran=toppen. 1990 Vol. 3 Nr. 9
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1990
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026080680003_009_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1fc43143585e6e07c14ebdd572e555d0
id:
1b0aeb9f36512060b28447db4c783189
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026080680023_006
title:
Gran=toppen. 1991 Vol. 4 Nr. 6
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1991
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026080680023_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1b0aeb9f36512060b28447db4c783189
id:
7689012b96ac39c23ba23a86cbf1521b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_plikttidsskrift_34a8bd2a-668e-4b00-8dae-4d9cf4ca5013
title:
Gran=toppen. 2026 Vol. 38 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2026
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_plikttidsskrift_34a8bd2a-668e-4b00-8dae-4d9cf4ca5013_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7689012b96ac39c23ba23a86cbf1521b
id:
b1c1632116e02390b2a360f6c16916b8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026080680023_004
title:
Gran=toppen. 1991 Vol. 4 Nr. 4
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1991
publisher:
Gran handel og håndverk
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026080680023_004_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b1c1632116e02390b2a360f6c16916b8

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.