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 2026-09-25T16:23:55Z in 0.178 seconds.

total:

595

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
acc2e463380c38f41eac6772b27b7285
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170824_114_196_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170824
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170824_114_196_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/acc2e463380c38f41eac6772b27b7285
id:
20d5a3dcf80b133f7a3fc740d0c48408
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170518_114_114_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170518
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170518_114_114_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/20d5a3dcf80b133f7a3fc740d0c48408
id:
2527d159fb161a6a785a1dd88f53ebb4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20171005_114_232_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20171005
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20171005_114_232_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2527d159fb161a6a785a1dd88f53ebb4
id:
06766b5d1bdda57ca2cc82ff9ad487d1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170316_114_65_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170316
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170316_114_65_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/06766b5d1bdda57ca2cc82ff9ad487d1
id:
ca770c9a35484f6d47827a5ae776b799
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170511_114_109_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170511
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170511_114_109_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/ca770c9a35484f6d47827a5ae776b799
id:
67bf2c902ac5eba50c766277a97f24e4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170427_114_98_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170427
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170427_114_98_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/67bf2c902ac5eba50c766277a97f24e4
id:
9240d5928f58d3d935e3031ad371acca
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20171102_114_256_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20171102
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20171102_114_256_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9240d5928f58d3d935e3031ad371acca
id:
2816385299055a012519a41e82474b51
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170831_114_202_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170831
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170831_114_202_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2816385299055a012519a41e82474b51
id:
3864ef056fd4d4062b2a394fb2e4c5d8
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20161124_113_273_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20161124
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20161124_113_273_1-1_01_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3864ef056fd4d4062b2a394fb2e4c5d8
id:
de1f83f14af79484c06541b15c1938c2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170706_114_154_1
title:
Laagendalsposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20170706
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Buskerud
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_laagendalsposten_null_null_20170706_114_154_1-1_01_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/de1f83f14af79484c06541b15c1938c2

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.