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.

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": "..."}
}

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 2026-08-02T18:42:30Z in 0.223 seconds.

total:

41294

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
14f15ab1f93a0acc01ce0b8c9226f20b
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Norway in books and manuscripts
creators:
2 results
1. Evans, D. Wyn
2. National Library of Scotland
year:
1963
publisher:
National Library of Scotland
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/14f15ab1f93a0acc01ce0b8c9226f20b
id:
d0d730e003116a2dfb0f50b40aa944e8
urn:
not reported by source
title:
The National Library of Norway : IFLA-information
creators:
1 results
1. Nasjonalbibliotekavdelinga i Rana
year:
1997
publisher:
The National Library of Norway
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d0d730e003116a2dfb0f50b40aa944e8
id:
f4f56bbff7b3d1070d83977cfcbc8596
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Norway in books and manuscripts
creators:
2 results
1. Evans, D. Wyn
2. National Library Of Scotland
year:
19630101
publisher:
National Library of Scotland
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f4f56bbff7b3d1070d83977cfcbc8596
id:
4a1934877f1fc35657cf9d553d071922
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012102306159
title:
National library services in Norway : a report
creators:
2 results
1. Hauge, Jostein H.
2. Line, Maurice B.
year:
1990
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_2012102306159_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4a1934877f1fc35657cf9d553d071922
id:
0d75785968afb3f4ae8415835e8b5c42
urn:
not reported by source
title:
The National Library of Norway - film and broadcasting, Oslo
creators:
1 results
1. Stenseth, Birgit
year:
2022
publisher:
FIAF
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0d75785968afb3f4ae8415835e8b5c42
id:
f73f059d1e4e3902fcb129de9d796dbd
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008022100012
title:
Public library manifesto
creators:
2 results
1. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
2. Unesco
year:
1995
publisher:
International federation of Library Associations and Institutions
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_2008022100012_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f73f059d1e4e3902fcb129de9d796dbd
id:
b07a110f93d36dc65cc0b3532a95c42d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017070507052
title:
Organising the electronic library : 19th Library Systems Seminar, Trondheim/Norway, 14-16 June 1995
creators:
4 results
1. Breivik, Torbjørg
2. Library Systems Seminar
3. European Library Automation Group
4. Norges tekniske universitetsbibliotek
year:
1995
publisher:
Technical University Library of Norway
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_2017070507052_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b07a110f93d36dc65cc0b3532a95c42d
id:
2c69d5a50d686bc935f8a5709704f9b2
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Living memory : from the collection of the National Library of Norway
creators:
6 results
1. Born, Ketil
2. Nasjonalbiblioteket
3. Svatun, Birte
4. Grave, Tonje
5. Skuggevik, Erik
6. Dawkin, Deborah
year:
2006
publisher:
Nasjonalbiblioteket
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2c69d5a50d686bc935f8a5709704f9b2
id:
92caf5bb0da1d1a4f335993f3a79e7f7
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Magda i Berlin! : -eller hvordan bibliotekar Magda Hansen (35?) fra Nesberg ble "the national librarian of Norway"
creators:
1 results
1. Magda
year:
2003
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. artikler
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
no
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
not reported by source
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/92caf5bb0da1d1a4f335993f3a79e7f7
id:
ecf8fe484c8b9459e65368a15a237def
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014103007580
title:
Dances from Norway
creators:
2 results
1. Beal, Daniel
2. Sons of Norway
year:
1988
publisher:
Sons of Norway
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. eng
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_2014103007580_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ecf8fe484c8b9459e65368a15a237def

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

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.