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 2026-09-26T13:30:39Z in 0.206 seconds.

total:

212

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
648d0c83fb40c2c7ca6494a699401920
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_verdensgang_null_null_20070816_1_222_1
title:
VG
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20070816
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_verdensgang_null_null_20070816_1_222_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/648d0c83fb40c2c7ca6494a699401920
id:
35a53d54c825dad593be182d5527ceac
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_verdensgang_null_null_20070511_1_127_1
title:
VG
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20070511
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_verdensgang_null_null_20070511_1_127_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/35a53d54c825dad593be182d5527ceac
id:
7189ec28ea8e9e2f811e8a4e9941b63f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_verdensgang_null_null_20070817_1_223_1
title:
VG
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20070817
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_verdensgang_null_null_20070817_1_223_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7189ec28ea8e9e2f811e8a4e9941b63f
id:
82949ee22400ec746cd3c28d2ccfb8c6
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlandetsblad_null_null_20080728_101_172_1
title:
Østlandets Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20080728
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_ostlandetsblad_null_null_20080728_101_172_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/82949ee22400ec746cd3c28d2ccfb8c6
id:
6780eb7c5f82e4a0ed7ec0a9bded5e7a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_verdensgang_null_null_20070510_1_126_1
title:
VG
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20070510
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_verdensgang_null_null_20070510_1_126_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6780eb7c5f82e4a0ed7ec0a9bded5e7a
id:
201fb5b60d0b629ac1fd5b17ddc52045
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_ostlandetsblad_null_null_20080714_101_160_1
title:
Østlandets Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20080714
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_ostlandetsblad_null_null_20080714_101_160_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/201fb5b60d0b629ac1fd5b17ddc52045
id:
73df4a2437a639035851031b400a5a8c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20020723_104_166_1
title:
Asker og Bærums budstikke
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20020723
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20020723_104_166_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/73df4a2437a639035851031b400a5a8c
id:
9209ad7913fee8c246ac2edfc31b625d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_budstikkaforaskerogb_null_null_20060102_107_1_1
title:
Budstikka (Asker og Bærum)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20060102
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_budstikkaforaskerogb_null_null_20060102_107_1_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9209ad7913fee8c246ac2edfc31b625d
id:
441398885dd94aeed5740e4e3170d318
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20020709_104_154_1
title:
Asker og Bærums budstikke
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20020709
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20020709_104_154_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/441398885dd94aeed5740e4e3170d318
id:
8ab26ee7095ab72bd284a940e196218e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024032180041_002
title:
Bygningsarbeideren (Oslo : 2003). 2007 Vol. 5 Nr. 2
creators:
1 results
1. Oslo bygningsarbeiderforening
year:
2007
publisher:
Oslo bygningsarbeiderforening
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_2024032180041_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8ab26ee7095ab72bd284a940e196218e

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.