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 2026-09-26T07:40:35Z in 0.194 seconds.

total:

536

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
24e5121d9c67ca7a5d1701c6cce17967
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20171103_00041_NB_MIT_GNR_00840
title:
Kvarø, Nordland
creators:
1 results
1. Mittet & Co. AS
year:
not reported by source
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bilder
languages:
No results.
county:
Nordland
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_20171103_00041_NB_MIT_GNR_00840/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/24e5121d9c67ca7a5d1701c6cce17967
id:
0e5a06093cb8ce77b66bf28a82abe79e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19011010_8_79_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19011010
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19011010_8_79_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0e5a06093cb8ce77b66bf28a82abe79e
id:
e4e88c7ca7d7fbe4ba0b83c74d7e2cfc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19010923_8_74_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19010923
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19010923_8_74_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e4e88c7ca7d7fbe4ba0b83c74d7e2cfc
id:
0a3721c31a537ecafd92444182375ef5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19011104_8_86_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19011104
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19011104_8_86_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0a3721c31a537ecafd92444182375ef5
id:
bcec4de652d3d5384a0c4ee90a91e589
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19060315_13_21_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19060315
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19060315_13_21_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/bcec4de652d3d5384a0c4ee90a91e589
id:
f477566805af1190198fb7585d45c73a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19041215_11_99_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19041215
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19041215_11_99_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f477566805af1190198fb7585d45c73a
id:
84454a8cc3ff35a3eb25c4e6a3a0b7c8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19021106_9_87_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19021106
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19021106_9_87_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/84454a8cc3ff35a3eb25c4e6a3a0b7c8
id:
0000b38d9e211b523a7910b14ab99fbf
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19040707_11_53_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19040707
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19040707_11_53_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0000b38d9e211b523a7910b14ab99fbf
id:
73ae0985f5773ad4ae1a2f74b9227d2f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bodotidende_null_null_19000109_20_3_1
title:
Bodø Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19000109
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_bodotidende_null_null_19000109_20_3_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/73ae0985f5773ad4ae1a2f74b9227d2f
id:
85312d38a5670f731f60c82d7f4d1a56
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordland_null_null_19030906_10_71_1
title:
Nordland
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19030906
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Nordland
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_nordland_null_null_19030906_10_71_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/85312d38a5670f731f60c82d7f4d1a56

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.