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 2026-09-25T18:00:40Z in 0.198 seconds.

total:

6659

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
0e41897b65a078f0ce163389314fc46d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024031182004_001
title:
Polets 500 beste. 2012
creators:
1 results
1. Salvesen, Geir
year:
2012
publisher:
Schibsted
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_2024031182004_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0e41897b65a078f0ce163389314fc46d
id:
2fe5c28e372aa7f5e671013fbe25d6bc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024031182003_001
title:
Polets 500 beste. 2011
creators:
1 results
1. Salvesen, Geir
year:
2011
publisher:
Schibsted
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_2024031182003_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2fe5c28e372aa7f5e671013fbe25d6bc
id:
c5655d8f68d8df7ab2695894478f623d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024031182001_001
title:
Polets 500 beste. 2009
creators:
1 results
1. Salvesen, Geir
year:
2009
publisher:
Schibsted
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_2024031182001_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/c5655d8f68d8df7ab2695894478f623d
id:
f04d90579bd642106d28eff6db7b5715
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007081001043
title:
Hvitvin fra A til Å : en grundig og utførlig veileder til valg, pleie og nytelse av hvitvin
creators:
2 results
1. Ainsworth, Jim
2. Salvesen, Geir
year:
1991
publisher:
Schibsted
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_2007081001043_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f04d90579bd642106d28eff6db7b5715
id:
cd4e323978e6fb0acb0d029552f4f191
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014020548069
title:
Vin
creators:
1 results
1. Holmboe, Jens
year:
2006
publisher:
Damm
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_2014020548069_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/cd4e323978e6fb0acb0d029552f4f191
id:
86a083e056f1f69275a7b13f797b4232
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014110448079
title:
Vin
creators:
1 results
1. Holmboe, Jens
year:
2009
publisher:
Cappelen Damm
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_2014110448079_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/86a083e056f1f69275a7b13f797b4232
id:
cbc3fcc2b823d1fc1efd19a4d1698b0b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2025012148053
title:
Salatologi : friske ideer til deilige salater
creators:
4 results
1. Kirwan, Theo
2. Berg, Jon
3. Sprout & Co
4. Salvesen, Geir
year:
2024
publisher:
Gursli Berg
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_2025012148053_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/cbc3fcc2b823d1fc1efd19a4d1698b0b
id:
124e54833fcd7c4c93dfe4b1bac9a608
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018031548126
title:
Øl, vin, mat : perfekte kombinasjoner til tradisjonsmat
creators:
4 results
1. Jørgensen, Gustav
2. Grundseth, Dag W.
3. Salvesen, Geir
4. Olympen (restaurant)
year:
2015
publisher:
Bibere
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_2018031548126_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/124e54833fcd7c4c93dfe4b1bac9a608
id:
6decd6079fcdc805e2bf041baca36118
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020090707600
title:
Vinreiser i Europa
creators:
3 results
1. D´Alessio, Ornella
2. Santini, Marco
3. Gjerpe, Kristin
year:
2009
publisher:
Cappelen Damm
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_2020090707600_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6decd6079fcdc805e2bf041baca36118
id:
2904d50a6f0f637ebc50345212947788
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_farsundsavis_null_null_19030109_15_3_1
title:
Farsunds Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19030109
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Agder
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_farsundsavis_null_null_19030109_15_3_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2904d50a6f0f637ebc50345212947788

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.