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 2026-09-23T13:49:02Z in 0.199 seconds.

total:

146809

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
16001975c02f3bd7e1d12bd8ba29a555
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00160_NB_MIT_GNR_12042_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00160_NB_MIT_GNR_12042_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/16001975c02f3bd7e1d12bd8ba29a555
id:
6010afffd1fd65616d4e76b947c145af
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20160829_00453_NB_MIT_FNR_03790
title:
Mittet, Erkvam
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:
Møre og Romsdal
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_20160829_00453_NB_MIT_FNR_03790/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6010afffd1fd65616d4e76b947c145af
id:
292a355b1ec248d94f43b5eff5046c06
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20161122_00047_NB_MIT_GNR_12032_B
title:
Mittet Jr.
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:
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_digifoto_20161122_00047_NB_MIT_GNR_12032_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/292a355b1ec248d94f43b5eff5046c06
id:
537d0b87ea9556187d628e2af03894ba
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00101_NB_MIT_GNR_12057_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00101_NB_MIT_GNR_12057_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/537d0b87ea9556187d628e2af03894ba
id:
fbf6552678832d918db8bb1ff214fd56
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00167_NB_MIT_GNR_12041_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00167_NB_MIT_GNR_12041_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fbf6552678832d918db8bb1ff214fd56
id:
fdc9e32dfbc6ecce0c22c1b8cae0691a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00084_NB_MIT_GNR_12050_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00084_NB_MIT_GNR_12050_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/fdc9e32dfbc6ecce0c22c1b8cae0691a
id:
4535313ac89673755a709e0bd12d7188
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20161122_00028_NB_MIT_GNR_12033_B
title:
Mittet Jr.
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:
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_digifoto_20161122_00028_NB_MIT_GNR_12033_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4535313ac89673755a709e0bd12d7188
id:
97253d86f68c3e8cd9bc5ba5547b6f17
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00087_NB_MIT_GNR_12056_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00087_NB_MIT_GNR_12056_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/97253d86f68c3e8cd9bc5ba5547b6f17
id:
0391fe9af45a6092a60e025df975b0de
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00108_NB_MIT_GNR_12040_B
title:
Mittet Sen.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00108_NB_MIT_GNR_12040_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0391fe9af45a6092a60e025df975b0de
id:
dbbaaf7bf2021079df9546b739867a25
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digifoto_20170202_00130_NB_MIT_GNR_12035_B
title:
Mittet Jr.
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:
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_digifoto_20170202_00130_NB_MIT_GNR_12035_B/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/dbbaaf7bf2021079df9546b739867a25

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.