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 2026-09-22T02:15:47Z in 0.257 seconds.

total:

142426

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
2f7840ca2b93a454a31148291bfef4d8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_001
title:
Norad i korte trekk (trykt utg.). 2004
creators:
1 results
1. NORAD
year:
2004
publisher:
NORAD
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. eng
2. nob
3. mul
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2f7840ca2b93a454a31148291bfef4d8
id:
9f755227bc3e7e6fc6cfdc2ad3bff46f
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_003
title:
Norad i korte trekk (trykt utg.). 2006
creators:
1 results
1. NORAD
year:
2006
publisher:
NORAD
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. eng
2. nob
3. mul
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_003_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9f755227bc3e7e6fc6cfdc2ad3bff46f
id:
385c0abc8cb439c6ec294e4612c2c3d3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_002
title:
Norad i korte trekk (trykt utg.). 2005
creators:
1 results
1. NORAD
year:
2005
publisher:
NORAD
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. eng
2. nob
3. mul
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2024120680013_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/385c0abc8cb439c6ec294e4612c2c3d3
id:
133d1507e0e9f30c703d6458c32d01f2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030283006_001
title:
NORAD nytt. 1982 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1982
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030283006_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/133d1507e0e9f30c703d6458c32d01f2
id:
ba289361788e3759eac08a9edfcf4388
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030283005_001
title:
NORAD nytt. 1980 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1980
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030283005_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ba289361788e3759eac08a9edfcf4388
id:
a64d4cad180e9f7318ab266e4db65c24
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030280024_005
title:
NORAD nytt. 1978 Nr. 5
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1978
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030280024_005_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a64d4cad180e9f7318ab266e4db65c24
id:
4373e9f295973cc8f593389ac4e9934b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030280025_001
title:
NORAD nytt. 1979 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1979
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030280025_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4373e9f295973cc8f593389ac4e9934b
id:
481b278651e4c2e8fb640a2d70c48c72
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030280024_002
title:
NORAD nytt. 1978 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1978
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030280024_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/481b278651e4c2e8fb640a2d70c48c72
id:
7117000e784c8064b1318d6d4e653404
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030280020_003
title:
NORAD nytt. 1974 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1974
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030280020_003_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7117000e784c8064b1318d6d4e653404
id:
ca80cd53744ea40d20f009aa0d2ce9f9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026030280020_001
title:
NORAD nytt. 1974 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1974
publisher:
Direktoratet for utviklingshjelp
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
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_digitidsskrift_2026030280020_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ca80cd53744ea40d20f009aa0d2ce9f9

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.