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 2026-09-23T18:59:20Z in 0.180 seconds.

total:

10022

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
44081da9cccbacf2902af0f3657bda6c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008031300055
title:
Multiconsult 50 år
creators:
2 results
1. Mjøset, Tryggve
2. Multiconsult
year:
1995
publisher:
Multiconsult
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
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_2008031300055_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/44081da9cccbacf2902af0f3657bda6c
id:
74d203d0c413d092e5a42980c4b57416
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013011407029
title:
Hundre års oppfinnsomhet : historien om Multiconsult 1908-2008
creators:
2 results
1. Sekne, Ivar
2. Multiconsult
year:
2008
publisher:
Multiconsult
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
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_digibok_2013011407029_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/74d203d0c413d092e5a42980c4b57416
id:
1af156ec742a059ff95bc1ff8db91de8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025081980002_002
title:
Fagbladet (Fagforbundet. Seksjon samferdsel og teknisk) : for medlemmer i Fagforbundet. 2015 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2015
publisher:
Fagforbundet, Seksjon samferdsel og teknisk
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_2025081980002_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1af156ec742a059ff95bc1ff8db91de8
id:
cd94f4e60d171f0680746a36c05f7d72
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025081980004_006
title:
Fagbladet (Fagforbundet. Seksjon samferdsel og teknisk) : for medlemmer i Fagforbundet. 2013 Nr. 6/7
creators:
1 results
1. Fagforbundet Seksjon samferdsel og teknisk
year:
2013
publisher:
Fagforbundet, Seksjon samferdsel og teknisk
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_2025081980004_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/cd94f4e60d171f0680746a36c05f7d72
id:
b71a2e726059778fdcd639fcd399ae17
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024060683011_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2021 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2021
publisher:
Value 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_2024060683011_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b71a2e726059778fdcd639fcd399ae17
id:
84dac7403ebda4de0216b1b86ce7cf73
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023051283076_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2023 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2023
publisher:
Value 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_2023051283076_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/84dac7403ebda4de0216b1b86ce7cf73
id:
55ae7edd5424b7b4b3faf182ec3acd61
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022111683336_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2022 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2022
publisher:
Value 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_2022111683336_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/55ae7edd5424b7b4b3faf182ec3acd61
id:
eec621b6db799759838e8804d355b3d0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025081983031_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2025 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2025
publisher:
Value 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_2025081983031_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/eec621b6db799759838e8804d355b3d0
id:
9b86d66376bae46bd0e71bcdfbe5e18a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023091983114_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2023 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2023
publisher:
Value 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_2023091983114_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9b86d66376bae46bd0e71bcdfbe5e18a
id:
55226142bee0082fe8d6c2bb6efd7aa0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024091283130_001
title:
Samferdsel & infrastruktur. 2024 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2024
publisher:
Value 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_2024091283130_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/55226142bee0082fe8d6c2bb6efd7aa0

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.