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 2026-09-24T00:09:57Z in 0.197 seconds.

total:

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
8ca2363aaa8aca4d94e47b46dd3c7de9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2023072048077
title:
CorelDRAW 8
creators:
3 results
1. Kristiansen, Thor
2. Pettersen, Kjell
3. Udnesseter, Erlend V.
year:
1999
publisher:
Visual world
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_2023072048077_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8ca2363aaa8aca4d94e47b46dd3c7de9
id:
08b491ee7c00bac61a67646876a7e932
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011012608111
title:
Excel 5.0 for informasjonsteknologi
creators:
1 results
1. Birkeland, Svein Erik
year:
1996
publisher:
Halden dataservice
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_2011012608111_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/08b491ee7c00bac61a67646876a7e932
id:
08f89b70157e5f4d64ad137d87845d31
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011020408093
title:
Excel 5.0. Del 2
creators:
1 results
1. Birkeland, Svein Erik
year:
1997
publisher:
Gyldendal undervisning
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_2011020408093_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/08f89b70157e5f4d64ad137d87845d31
id:
74fd08d987e5d38bc3acf1d351bbe19c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010101208102
title:
Kartdagene 1990 for 20. gang : Kulturhuset, Tromsø, 29.-31. mars
creators:
2 results
1. Norges karttekniske forbund
2. Kartdagene
year:
1990
publisher:
NKTF
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_2010101208102_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/74fd08d987e5d38bc3acf1d351bbe19c
id:
68da39a51217cdb5bf9a686c26ea6a26
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_finnmarkdagblad_null_null_20250311_112_39_1
title:
Finnmark Dagblad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20250311
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_finnmarkdagblad_null_null_20250311_112_39_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/68da39a51217cdb5bf9a686c26ea6a26
id:
d2af68ab2a2376f624fce1c1a7d68428
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008020604025
title:
PowerPoint 4.0 i praksis
creators:
1 results
1. Bertheussen, Svein
year:
1994
publisher:
EDB kunnskap
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_2008020604025_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d2af68ab2a2376f624fce1c1a7d68428
id:
6955cccb2481ba09f72119fda71f1398
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2009120904001
title:
Excel 5.0. D. 2
creators:
1 results
1. Birkeland, Svein Erik
year:
1998
publisher:
Gyldendal undervisning
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nno
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_2009120904001_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6955cccb2481ba09f72119fda71f1398
id:
94469ea2fb53c3f9252d8446249bfbf0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_opplandarbeiderblad_null_null_20030129_80_24_1
title:
Oppland Arbeiderblad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20030129
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Innlandet
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_opplandarbeiderblad_null_null_20030129_80_24_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/94469ea2fb53c3f9252d8446249bfbf0
id:
39c53f2390f6c8ff03bfd1e301f6e6cb
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012072006052
title:
Ressursregnskap : om arbeidet med utvikling av et informasjonssystem for naturressurser
creators:
1 results
1. Gustavsen, Øyvind
year:
1977
publisher:
Universitetsforl.
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
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_2012072006052_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/39c53f2390f6c8ff03bfd1e301f6e6cb
id:
eb142cc46d0795bafa69eec755d42ff2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011060806070
title:
Datakatalog : oversikt over data fra NSD .... 1988
creators:
1 results
1. Norsk samfunnsvitenskapelig datatjeneste
year:
1988
publisher:
NSD
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_2011060806070_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/eb142cc46d0795bafa69eec755d42ff2

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

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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.