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 2026-09-27T23:47:12Z in 0.257 seconds.

total:

1128

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
d99cd7f14b1f5029f9dfe2058cee662b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2019021228003
title:
In hoc opere haec continentur : Geographiae Cl. Ptolemaei a plurimis uiris utriusq[ue] linguae doctiss. eme[n]data & cu[m] archetypo graeco ab ipsis collata
creators:
8 results
1. Ptolemaeus, Claudius
2. Sparebankstiftelsen DNB
3. Vitali, Bernardino dei
4. Ginsberg, William B.
5. Tosini, Evangelista
6. Cotta, Giovanni
7. Jacobus
8. Marcus
year:
1508
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. kart
languages:
1 results
1. lat
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_digibok_2019021228003_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d99cd7f14b1f5029f9dfe2058cee662b
id:
e0197a9d09533c2ebf9dc39547bec68a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026031280060_002
title:
Bruktnytt : BN : fagblad for transport og anlegg. februar 2011 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2011
publisher:
Fagmedia
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_2026031280060_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e0197a9d09533c2ebf9dc39547bec68a
id:
136c6510f10dc3d85be2dd3e768062f6
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2014120181032_001
title:
Teknikk og miljø. 1980 Nr. 1
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1980
publisher:
Teknisk presse
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_2014120181032_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/136c6510f10dc3d85be2dd3e768062f6
id:
8d24539cc74f01070e1ea66e2b819e8b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2014120181045_001
title:
Teknikk og miljø. 1981 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1981
publisher:
Teknisk presse
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_2014120181045_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8d24539cc74f01070e1ea66e2b819e8b
id:
982de3d162dafcf4ca667993bf0a0321
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023113080034_006
title:
Yrkesbil. 2003 Vol. 24 Nr. 6
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2003
publisher:
Bilforl.
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_2023113080034_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/982de3d162dafcf4ca667993bf0a0321
id:
6bcd68173a28b839070b3eec9e3d2c45
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026031280068_014
title:
Bruktnytt : BN : fagblad for transport og anlegg. november 2007 Nr. 14
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2007
publisher:
Fagmedia
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_2026031280068_014_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6bcd68173a28b839070b3eec9e3d2c45
id:
8c9698df6396bce4ffeeabb2778070c5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023121180020_002
title:
Yrkesbil. 2004 Vol. 25 Nr. 8
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2004
publisher:
Bilforl.
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_2023121180020_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8c9698df6396bce4ffeeabb2778070c5
id:
ce7f2efac98e531af42753430515a2f0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2014120181073_001
title:
Teknikk og miljø. 1979 Nr. 9/10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1979
publisher:
Teknisk presse
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_2014120181073_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ce7f2efac98e531af42753430515a2f0
id:
dc173351e6f947b7283345838977fd0b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2014120181044_001
title:
Teknikk og miljø. 1981 Nr. 2
creators:
not reported by source
year:
1981
publisher:
Teknisk presse
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_2014120181044_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/dc173351e6f947b7283345838977fd0b
id:
a56a903c9fbfffa89d175f319e9bd90a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014102106084
title:
Kommunal renovasjon : arbeidsmiljø for renovatører : utvikling av renovasjonskjøretøyer
creators:
2 results
1. Bjørgum, Elisabeth
2. Transportøkonomisk institutt
year:
1979
publisher:
Transportøkonomisk institutt
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_2014102106084_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a56a903c9fbfffa89d175f319e9bd90a

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.