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 2026-09-27T08:47:51Z in 0.177 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

9 results

id:
a94f9dfb73c9d6c9f05c9249ba53fdff
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024080680045_003
title:
Miljørapport. 2009
creators:
3 results
1. El-Retur
2. Elektronikkretur
3. Hvitevareretur AS
year:
2009
publisher:
Elektronikkretur
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_2024080680045_003_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a94f9dfb73c9d6c9f05c9249ba53fdff
id:
1b5ac685effdb055d4ffcdcead32abfd
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120426_153_112_2
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120426
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_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120426_153_112_2-1_001_foerste/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1b5ac685effdb055d4ffcdcead32abfd
id:
de00e7ff8715babc6079026f4a87e672
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120426_153_112_1
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120426
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_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120426_153_112_1-1_001_foerste/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/de00e7ff8715babc6079026f4a87e672
id:
c9892442fe42d226c479a3b25468dca6
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120503_153_118_1
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120503
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_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120503_153_118_1-1_001_foerste/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c9892442fe42d226c479a3b25468dca6
id:
83ba2bcea0338046d6dfedfb6c665e00
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120503_153_118_2
title:
Aftenposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120503
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_aftenposten_morgen_1_20120503_153_118_2-1_001_foerste/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/83ba2bcea0338046d6dfedfb6c665e00
id:
4856e290a45ddb31f99f43049445142b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025082280019_002
title:
Fagbladet CreditInform. 2011 Vol. 22 Nr. 2
creators:
2 results
1. Creditinform
2. Experian
year:
2011
publisher:
Experian
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_2025082280019_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4856e290a45ddb31f99f43049445142b
id:
4baa80b6dd5b95737b92ef1882692ce9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025082280018_005
title:
Fagbladet CreditInform. 2012 Vol. 23 Nr. 5
creators:
2 results
1. Creditinform
2. Experian
year:
2012
publisher:
Experian
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_2025082280018_005_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4baa80b6dd5b95737b92ef1882692ce9
id:
4284e8d214efbc353322848b2d764d8f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025082280018_010
title:
Fagbladet CreditInform. 2012 Vol. 23 Nr. 10
creators:
2 results
1. Creditinform
2. Experian
year:
2012
publisher:
Experian
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_2025082280018_010_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4284e8d214efbc353322848b2d764d8f
id:
edf905c6fd629b0202d077e26ca549d2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024120983003_001
title:
Bedriftskatalogen BizKit (rosa sider : trykt utg.). 2003
creators:
1 results
1. Findexa
year:
2003
publisher:
Findexa
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_2024120983003_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/edf905c6fd629b0202d077e26ca549d2

limit:

offset:

returned:

has_more_results:

truncated:

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.