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 2026-09-25T18:00:43Z in 0.170 seconds.

total:

25542

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
2d5d4d0804e04557d520526fbdb7cff2
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016012208045
title:
Norsk kunsthistorisk bibliografi 1976
creators:
1 results
1. Solhaug, Berit
year:
1982
publisher:
[B. Solhaug]
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_2016012208045_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2d5d4d0804e04557d520526fbdb7cff2
id:
a18bcc7af2aff45626df78ef792bcc88
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_20200625_33_24_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20200625
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_20200625_33_24_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a18bcc7af2aff45626df78ef792bcc88
id:
9cab41314056595bc7339dccabd1a453
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vestnytt_null_null_20180824_31_63_1
title:
VestNytt
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20180824
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vestnytt_null_null_20180824_31_63_1-01_001_seksjonsnavn/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/9cab41314056595bc7339dccabd1a453
id:
f80153bea413569445539105865bda55
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_20200528_33_20_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20200528
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_20200528_33_20_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f80153bea413569445539105865bda55
id:
1272f1bd4c50e2a012b46020a7204716
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016101108121
title:
Handlingsplan for eldreomsorga 1998-2001 (2002) : sluttrapport for Hordaland
creators:
2 results
1. Norge Fylkesmannen i Hordaland
2. Fylkeslegen i Hordaland
year:
2002
publisher:
Fylkesmannen
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nno
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_2016101108121_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1272f1bd4c50e2a012b46020a7204716
id:
3ce84736507e5fcc0eaa228f7b19b2e0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_19981105_12_41_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19981105
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_19981105_12_41_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3ce84736507e5fcc0eaa228f7b19b2e0
id:
83e933127bba03b21096808f68d52967
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_20040902_18_32_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20040902
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_20040902_18_32_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/83e933127bba03b21096808f68d52967
id:
a79c657109266105a6a33aa2e0fa0ee4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_20030403_17_14_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20030403
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_20030403_17_14_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a79c657109266105a6a33aa2e0fa0ee4
id:
0799327737ab1fc2c13028743a9242c9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_19910620_5_25_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19910620
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_19910620_5_25_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0799327737ab1fc2c13028743a9242c9
id:
a23bc29b6a585aa1f1b89e2f7801aca9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vaksdalposten_null_null_19980312_12_10_1
title:
Vaksdalposten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
19980312
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
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_vaksdalposten_null_null_19980312_12_10_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/a23bc29b6a585aa1f1b89e2f7801aca9

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.