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 2026-09-26T00:20:13Z in 0.282 seconds.

total:

94888

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
857677632b406bbf56ba0856acdb6fdc
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Masfjorden sparebank 1901-1951
creators:
1 results
1. Masfjorden Sparebank
year:
19530101
publisher:
not reported by source
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/857677632b406bbf56ba0856acdb6fdc
id:
9c7a723bfc939cf2c123aad02435f368
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Masfjorden sparebank, 1901-1951
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1951
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
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/9c7a723bfc939cf2c123aad02435f368
id:
0c1e5468d476c4e2e3ef14a9b5221ba2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011111606055
title:
Kartlegging og verdisetjing av naturtypar i Masfjorden
creators:
2 results
1. Moe, Bjørn
2. Masfjorden
year:
2003
publisher:
Fylkesmannen i Hordaland, Miljøvernavdelinga
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_2011111606055_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0c1e5468d476c4e2e3ef14a9b5221ba2
id:
0d0471c2ad29742a3bc8115fe80e7513
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Masfjorden kommune 1980-1983 : informasjonshefte
creators:
1 results
1. Masfjorden
year:
1980
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
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/0d0471c2ad29742a3bc8115fe80e7513
id:
983ee73cb13d33c4e600918230beb7a9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011061706062
title:
Kvamsdals fargeri i Masfjorden kommune
creators:
2 results
1. Kvamsdal, Rolf
2. Masfjorden
year:
2002
publisher:
[Masfjorden kommune]
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nno
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_2011061706062_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/983ee73cb13d33c4e600918230beb7a9
id:
eea4754cb4b051e5694275d7d75295b4
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Lindås-Masfjorden brandtrygdelag 1856-1931
creators:
1 results
1. Lindås-Masfjorden Brandtrygdelag
year:
19310101
publisher:
not reported by source
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/eea4754cb4b051e5694275d7d75295b4
id:
b1e5a6f6d0152fb881fb629d113e34f0
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Lindås-Masfjorden Brandtrygdelag : 1856-1931
creators:
1 results
1. Lindås-Masfjorden Brandtrygdelag
year:
1931
publisher:
J.D. Beyers A/S Boktrykkeri
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
3 results
1. nno
2. nob
3. mul
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/b1e5a6f6d0152fb881fb629d113e34f0
id:
89f7709d8343d0d793d67bc3479307ef
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Fjon frå fjell til fjord : gamalt og nytt frå Masfjorden
creators:
2 results
1. Masfjorden Mållag
2. Masfjorden Sogelag
year:
19910101
publisher:
Masfjorden mållag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
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/89f7709d8343d0d793d67bc3479307ef
id:
e5939f290ac63014c217bca6fd9ae182
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025121683007_001
title:
Fjon frå fjell til fjord : gamalt og nytt frå Masfjorden. 2025
creators:
2 results
1. Masfjorden sogelag
2. Masfjorden mållag
year:
2025
publisher:
Masfjorden sogelag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nno
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_2025121683007_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e5939f290ac63014c217bca6fd9ae182
id:
51ee913244f3634b0103637b13cf5649
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022122083114_001
title:
Fjon frå fjell til fjord : gamalt og nytt frå Masfjorden. 2022
creators:
2 results
1. Masfjorden sogelag
2. Masfjorden mållag
year:
2022
publisher:
Masfjorden sogelag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nno
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_2022122083114_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/51ee913244f3634b0103637b13cf5649

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.