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 2026-10-19T16:57:29Z in 0.293 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
8332ecb45e9ee48e4f4f98835fe31710
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20221115_84_133_1
title:
Hallingdølen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20221115
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20221115_84_133_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8332ecb45e9ee48e4f4f98835fe31710
id:
634eef8353f3a1df775cfb5ea3d69c05
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20220419_84_45_1
title:
Hallingdølen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20220419
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20220419_84_45_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/634eef8353f3a1df775cfb5ea3d69c05
id:
8024213bba70a4af0cbdc03be058b716
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026072780022_014
title:
Vi menn (Oslo : trykt utg.). 2007 Nr. 48
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2007
publisher:
Egmont Hjemmet Mortensen
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_2026072780022_014_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8024213bba70a4af0cbdc03be058b716
id:
509ab1c02396a79a917bf939ffe79f91
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20230610_85_67_1
title:
Hallingdølen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20230610
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20230610_85_67_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/509ab1c02396a79a917bf939ffe79f91
id:
735ed967b281358fb24a3b3aaa073db3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20231021_85_124_1
title:
Hallingdølen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20231021
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_digavis_hallingdolen_null_null_20231021_85_124_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/735ed967b281358fb24a3b3aaa073db3
id:
3655a7fd866a766a7f84b9bb870fc6b0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022062180008_004
title:
Hjemme PC : Norges største PC-blad : vi viser deg de beste løsningene!. 2008 Vol. 13 Nr. 4
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2008
publisher:
Egmont Publishing
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_2022062180008_004_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3655a7fd866a766a7f84b9bb870fc6b0
id:
fb2900bed02e20090a070216efcdcf9e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022062180008_007
title:
Hjemme PC : Norges største PC-blad : vi viser deg de beste løsningene!. 2008 Vol. 13 Nr. 7
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2008
publisher:
Egmont Publishing
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_2022062180008_007_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fb2900bed02e20090a070216efcdcf9e
id:
7d48fe7a81442517036e797c07081845
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022062080019_008
title:
Hjemme PC : Norges største PC-blad : vi viser deg de beste løsningene!. 2007 Vol. 12 Nr. 8
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2007
publisher:
Egmont Publishing
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_2022062080019_008_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7d48fe7a81442517036e797c07081845
id:
3a93505ca5623fe798ba28cb142889d1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_haugesundsavis_null_null_19950920_100_217_1
title:
Haugesunds Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19950920
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Rogaland
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_haugesundsavis_null_null_19950920_100_217_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3a93505ca5623fe798ba28cb142889d1
id:
ebd019d3c870ccbdc93b72dac43a3223
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022062080019_006
title:
Hjemme PC : Norges største PC-blad : vi viser deg de beste løsningene!. 2007 Vol. 12 Nr. 6
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2007
publisher:
Egmont Publishing
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_2022062080019_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ebd019d3c870ccbdc93b72dac43a3223

limit:

offset:

returned:

has_more_results:

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.