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 2026-09-08T22:51:25Z in 0.192 seconds.

total:

572

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
393172e70a7b9fb06cc51f1b388a6c7c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024061983098_001
title:
Årsmelding for året. 2021
creators:
1 results
1. Vest-Telemark kraftlag
year:
2021
publisher:
VTK
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
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_digitidsskrift_2024061983098_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/393172e70a7b9fb06cc51f1b388a6c7c
id:
656f6c1ec95641895ec7ac0b96fa6391
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022032983118_001
title:
Årsmelding for året. 2020
creators:
1 results
1. Vest-Telemark kraftlag
year:
2020
publisher:
VTK
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
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_digitidsskrift_2022032983118_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/656f6c1ec95641895ec7ac0b96fa6391
id:
f16194675daeebc05baae13aab8af037
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20120512_40_53_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120512
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20120512_40_53_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/f16194675daeebc05baae13aab8af037
id:
bb81510134e4bbd3ddf0091415e9e917
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20120419_40_44_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20120419
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20120419_40_44_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/bb81510134e4bbd3ddf0091415e9e917
id:
1bdb794f37fe41e2510010211f2094ac
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20111222_39_145_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20111222
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20111222_39_145_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1bdb794f37fe41e2510010211f2094ac
id:
40843d5c9850ce3c6655de6870b4d918
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20061003_46_111_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20061003
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20061003_46_111_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/40843d5c9850ce3c6655de6870b4d918
id:
5f12aff6305086a12589d1d13c51eeb3
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20160402_44_36_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160402
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20160402_44_36_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5f12aff6305086a12589d1d13c51eeb3
id:
71b0aece004765bd2213ebc4e2ee9f87
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20090611_37_63_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20090611
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20090611_37_63_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/71b0aece004765bd2213ebc4e2ee9f87
id:
25cf85ffd4f4474a61ceeeeaad6fe39e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20220422_50_31_1
title:
Vest-Telemark Blad
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20220422
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Nynorsk
county:
Telemark
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_digavis_vesttelemarkblad_null_null_20220422_50_31_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/25cf85ffd4f4474a61ceeeeaad6fe39e
id:
8242371989f8f4d347b330950b8906a7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020091507555
title:
Kraftlaget : Rauland kraftforsyningslag 75 år
creators:
2 results
1. Bitustøyl, Kjell
2. Rauland kraftforsyningslag
year:
2015
publisher:
Rauland kraftforsyningslag
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_2020091507555_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8242371989f8f4d347b330950b8906a7

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.