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 2026-09-26T15:33:59Z in 0.215 seconds.

total:

511

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
78f1d5b16dc2e225ea93cc9402f91fe9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024043080030_002
title:
Avissen. 2008 Vol. 54 Nr. 2
creators:
3 results
1. ISS Servisystem
2. ISS Norge AS
3. ISS Facility Services
year:
2008
publisher:
ISS Facility Services
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_2024043080030_002_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/78f1d5b16dc2e225ea93cc9402f91fe9
id:
eb99c465664a3fbbbe3651a12bfc799c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022180054_010
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2019 Nr. 10
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2019
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024022180054_010_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/eb99c465664a3fbbbe3651a12bfc799c
id:
015e64d25c74fa59e34b04ad3dbc0ab9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025073183031_001
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2025 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2025
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2025073183031_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/015e64d25c74fa59e34b04ad3dbc0ab9
id:
54e83d977ef64951880010d955746b55
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025120883048_001
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2025 Nr. 7
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2025
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2025120883048_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/54e83d977ef64951880010d955746b55
id:
53b5fbeb8c8cdc8581ca24cc15b1dc96
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022180054_008
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2019 Nr. 8
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2019
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024022180054_008_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/53b5fbeb8c8cdc8581ca24cc15b1dc96
id:
be07e60d7d0bef7a0bbebbb4bf3f1abc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024110683034_001
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2024 Nr. 6
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2024
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024110683034_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/be07e60d7d0bef7a0bbebbb4bf3f1abc
id:
0d7b8361697b610b0702052e510db5c6
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024011983053_001
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2023 Nr. 8
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2023
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024011983053_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0d7b8361697b610b0702052e510db5c6
id:
e35d4f96927a42bbb4fa07a7a1a0a5bf
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024061983041_001
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2024 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2024
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024061983041_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e35d4f96927a42bbb4fa07a7a1a0a5bf
id:
6e9a9df7f9d9d9ff4545272aba657210
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022180052_003
title:
Byggdrifteren. Mars 2018 Nr. 3
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2018
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024022180052_003_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6e9a9df7f9d9d9ff4545272aba657210
id:
bd0e9b32e0d32f646a5cf921ca90596b
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024022180055_006
title:
Byggdrifteren. 2020 Nr. 6
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2020
publisher:
Skarland Press
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_2024022180055_006_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/bd0e9b32e0d32f646a5cf921ca90596b

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.