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 2026-09-28T10:14:07Z in 0.527 seconds.

total:

6633

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
42574127f38f5b34d4af5fd651b88013
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013112808158
title:
Oppegårds historie : dag for dag
creators:
1 results
1. Jonstad, Oddbjørn
year:
2006
publisher:
Soliver forl.
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_2013112808158_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/42574127f38f5b34d4af5fd651b88013
id:
1435e48eb29d80a942a6f9f3fdc903c3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011110308133
title:
Follo leksikon
creators:
1 results
1. Jonstad, Oddbjørn
year:
2007
publisher:
Soliver forl.
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_2011110308133_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1435e48eb29d80a942a6f9f3fdc903c3
id:
ddee31eab50a33b2a5a688093e4a7171
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018073148113
title:
Norsk organisasjonsleksikon : 2006
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2006
publisher:
Soliver forl.
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_2018073148113_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ddee31eab50a33b2a5a688093e4a7171
id:
7143054c25dd687659fc0d0e5fff6c49
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2015120808119
title:
Norsk medieleksikon
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2006
publisher:
Soliver forl.
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_2015120808119_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7143054c25dd687659fc0d0e5fff6c49
id:
ef13921c394da112d661d8fd97366abe
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2021012782004_001
title:
Norges statskalender (trykt utg.) : fortegnelse over konstitusjonelle organer og statsforvaltning m.v. = Norwegian government yearbook .... 1981
creators:
1 results
1. InfoMediaHuset AS
year:
1981
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_2021012782004_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ef13921c394da112d661d8fd97366abe
id:
4d8dc60743fce3a257881e7cf766ca0f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025022480004_003
title:
Sport (2006) : bransjeblad for sport og fritid. 2011 Vol. 92 Nr. 3
creators:
3 results
1. Sportsbransjen.no
2. Norsk Sportsbransjeforening
3. Sportsbransjen AS
year:
2011
publisher:
Norsk Sportsbransjeforening
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_2025022480004_003_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4d8dc60743fce3a257881e7cf766ca0f
id:
f2b4f210a0a9c7978d38bf421a4c2123
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aasavis_null_null_20151119_10_44_1
title:
Ås Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20151119
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_aasavis_null_null_20151119_10_44_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f2b4f210a0a9c7978d38bf421a4c2123
id:
c1098241a6f0f7a197a079b73527c7ac
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlandetsblad_null_null_19990105_92_3_1
title:
Østlandets Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19990105
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_ostlandetsblad_null_null_19990105_92_3_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c1098241a6f0f7a197a079b73527c7ac
id:
8679c2d19d3a0180f14740beea19551c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_verdensgang_null_null_19990831_1_233_1
title:
VG
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19990831
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
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_verdensgang_null_null_19990831_1_233_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8679c2d19d3a0180f14740beea19551c
id:
12938a1d604da27bfa047249e6321c65
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlandetsblad_null_null_19980613_91_134_1
title:
Østlandets Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19980613
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_ostlandetsblad_null_null_19980613_91_134_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/12938a1d604da27bfa047249e6321c65

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.