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 2026-10-02T14:05:09Z in 0.275 seconds.

total:

10248

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
28ea98d965b2836fb85fa1418a44a66d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010061606139
title:
Stiftelsen Lovdata : opprettelse og virksomhet 1981-86
creators:
1 results
1. Selmer, Knut S.
year:
1987
publisher:
Justisdepartementet
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_2010061606139_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/28ea98d965b2836fb85fa1418a44a66d
id:
18fc20e3e204db0ef9e9da53d8455982
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Stiftelsen Lovdata
creators:
1 results
1. Iversen, Frank
year:
1991
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/18fc20e3e204db0ef9e9da53d8455982
id:
910e537df089d438c48acadcf76c7f55
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011011708102
title:
Lovdata : historie, lov- og forskriftssystem
creators:
1 results
1. Daae, Morten
year:
1991
publisher:
TANO
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_2011011708102_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/910e537df089d438c48acadcf76c7f55
id:
f7bef5d0736947729aaf495123977184
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011090506075
title:
Resultatundersøkelsen 2003 for Stiftelsen Miljøfyrtårn
creators:
2 results
1. Thortveit, Lars
2. Miljøfyrtårn, Stiftelsen
year:
2004
publisher:
NTNU, Program for industriell økologi
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_2011090506075_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f7bef5d0736947729aaf495123977184
id:
35a349f24f53f51c89db3928b6c8607e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024051680025_002
title:
Vestante : årsskrift for Stiftelsen Åkrehamn kystmuseum. 2017 Vol. 2
creators:
1 results
1. Åkrehamn kystmuseum, Stiftelsen
year:
2017
publisher:
Stiftelsen Åkrehamn kystmuseum
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. nno
2. nob
3. mul
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_2024051680025_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/35a349f24f53f51c89db3928b6c8607e
id:
5eeab754e6db6426b7f85a8707f1bff9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008061004076
title:
Rettslig informasjonssøking : fra Lovsamlingen til Lovdata
creators:
1 results
1. Bing, Jon
year:
1989
publisher:
TANO
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_2008061004076_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5eeab754e6db6426b7f85a8707f1bff9
id:
ee7cc003da24749d61702d7982c92b8b
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Fiskeridepartementet : [ajourført med forskrifter kunngjort pr 31. oktober 1985]
creators:
2 results
1. Norge. Fiskeridepartementet
2. Lovdata, Stiftelsen
year:
19850101
publisher:
Grøndahl
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nor
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/ee7cc003da24749d61702d7982c92b8b
id:
35cb3aed93323678285a387508dcc9a7
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Handelsdepartementet : [ajourført med forskrifter kunngjort pr 21. november 1985]
creators:
2 results
1. Norge. Handelsdepartementet
2. Lovdata, Stiftelsen
year:
19850101
publisher:
Grøndahl
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nor
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/35cb3aed93323678285a387508dcc9a7
id:
62ff6c26157895581342b36646b3bfb4
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Industridepartementet : [ajourført med forskrifter kunngjort pr 31. oktober 1985]
creators:
2 results
1. Norge. Industridepartementet
2. Lovdata, Stiftelsen
year:
19850101
publisher:
Grøndahl
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nor
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/62ff6c26157895581342b36646b3bfb4
id:
e0cbd51e907862a9d069154a5b0e985b
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Finans- og tolldepartementet : [ajourført med forskrifter kunngjort pr 31. oktober 1984]
creators:
2 results
1. Norge. Finansdepartementet
2. Lovdata, Stiftelsen
year:
19840101
publisher:
Grøndahl
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nor
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/e0cbd51e907862a9d069154a5b0e985b

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.