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 2026-09-24T04:13:49Z in 0.267 seconds.

total:

45700

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
ee4c21b5c2f233d0b41b97af085a2a38
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2023050848093
title:
Grand hotel Terminus : a truly unique hotel in Bergen : architects Claesson, Koivisto, Rune
creators:
3 results
1. Lindman, Åke E:son
2. Fraser, Max
3. De Bergenske (firma)
year:
2019
publisher:
[De bergenske]
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_digibok_2023050848093_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ee4c21b5c2f233d0b41b97af085a2a38
id:
be5d4924e92c610704650e2f8e8c0b00
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Grand hotel Terminus, Bergen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1929
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
No results.
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/be5d4924e92c610704650e2f8e8c0b00
id:
f2de396d6bced153d7af7df0b2ea9e86
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020061148582
title:
Fjorten kvinner fra Bergen som har satt unike avtrykk i historien : (og på Grand Hotel Terminus)
creators:
2 results
1. Skodvin, Helge
2. Grand hotel Terminus (Bergen)
year:
2018
publisher:
[Grand hotel Terminus]
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_2020061148582_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f2de396d6bced153d7af7df0b2ea9e86
id:
106d3f789b8e8d5e6faf3af44d4aac78
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20160229_00144_bldsa_PK21269
title:
247 Bergen, Grand Hotel Terminus
creators:
2 results
1. Ukjent
2. Mittet & Co. AS
year:
not reported by source
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bilder
languages:
No results.
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_digifoto_20160229_00144_bldsa_PK21269/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/106d3f789b8e8d5e6faf3af44d4aac78
id:
584bb2da08ed7f850ca18293f50f8c45
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Hotellkunstneren : Ragnhild Smørås byttet ut musikk med butikk
creators:
1 results
1. Smørås, Ragnhild
year:
2008
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/584bb2da08ed7f850ca18293f50f8c45
id:
be9b51f2ace777ac69266fbc8fba957c
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Kunsthotellene i Bergen
creators:
2 results
1. Kojan, Toril
2. Smørås, Ragnhild
year:
2010
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/be9b51f2ace777ac69266fbc8fba957c
id:
3d851be9c26b5d8a54d8a2600ccc15a3
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Kunsthotellene i Bergen
creators:
2 results
1. Kojan, Toril
2. Smørås, Ragnhild
year:
2010
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3d851be9c26b5d8a54d8a2600ccc15a3
id:
0976bc1ad48e911e2f678a0847b1d05d
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Hotell i særklasse
creators:
2 results
1. Münchow, Otto von
2. Smørås, Kjetil
year:
2012
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0976bc1ad48e911e2f678a0847b1d05d
id:
9f1d21b1ec064007b218ce1235daf2db
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011062905059
title:
Referat : Trafikksikkerhetsfokus 2002 : Grand hotell Terminus - Bergen 17. og 18. september 2002
creators:
3 results
1. Trafikksikkerhetsfokus 2002 (konferanse)
2. Vegdirektoratet Kontor for trafikkanalyse
3. Statens vegvesen
year:
2002
publisher:
Statens vegvesen, Vegdirektoratet, Kontor for trafikkanalyse
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:
bokhylla
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NORWAY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011062905059_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9f1d21b1ec064007b218ce1235daf2db
id:
1987c600cde76926931f74253fd41755
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Abstract book : MedViZ Conference 2012 Bergen, Hotel Grand Terminus 17th of January
creators:
4 results
1. Georg Dimcevski
2. Gilja, Odd Helge
3. MedViz Conference 2012 Bergen
4. Haukeland universitetssjukehus
year:
2012
publisher:
Helse Bergen, Haukeland University Hospital
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1987c600cde76926931f74253fd41755

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.