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 2026-10-02T12:45:03Z in 0.263 seconds.

total:

661

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
4c8e3521866c58a0915e096142ae25e4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024111480006_001
title:
Birkebeiner'n : offisielt magasin for Birkebeinerrennet AS og Birkebeinerrittet AS. 2009 Vol. 21 Nr. 1b
creators:
2 results
1. Birkebeinerrittet
2. Birkebeinerrennet
year:
2009
publisher:
Sport media
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_2024111480006_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/4c8e3521866c58a0915e096142ae25e4
id:
b546104038f63c699bb8bc6477e272b1
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergensavisen_null_null_20140806_1_207_1
title:
Bergensavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140806
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_bergensavisen_null_null_20140806_1_207_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b546104038f63c699bb8bc6477e272b1
id:
201e6fcc74c0bb3bdd9930272084e342
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_fiskeribladetfiskare_null_null_20150313_8_31_1
title:
Fiskeribladet Fiskaren
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20150313
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk
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_fiskeribladetfiskare_null_null_20150313_8_31_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/201e6fcc74c0bb3bdd9930272084e342
id:
3f5cfbc4d17e0bea5bb1801368c8bbc4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergensavisen_null_null_20140415_1_104_1
title:
Bergensavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140415
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_bergensavisen_null_null_20140415_1_104_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/3f5cfbc4d17e0bea5bb1801368c8bbc4
id:
109e8571a2dbd07e4535b76610a9fb74
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergenstidende_null_null_20140915_147_247_1
title:
Bergens Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140915
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_bergenstidende_null_null_20140915_147_247_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/109e8571a2dbd07e4535b76610a9fb74
id:
d0b57803eef3c9b8201ca5107d8d8a7c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergenstidende_null_null_20141119_147_311_1
title:
Bergens Tidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20141119
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_bergenstidende_null_null_20141119_147_311_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d0b57803eef3c9b8201ca5107d8d8a7c
id:
1ed58c90183651467fbb60f9ae630b26
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_fiskeribladetfiskare_null_null_20150515_8_55_1
title:
Fiskeribladet Fiskaren
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20150515
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk
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_fiskeribladetfiskare_null_null_20150515_8_55_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1ed58c90183651467fbb60f9ae630b26
id:
6de697ca8b90981bc6d21d2c7479dd00
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025081980036_004
title:
Estate magasin : magasin for eiendomsbransjen. 2015 Nr. 4
creators:
not reported by source
year:
2015
publisher:
Estate media
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
3 results
1. eng
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_2025081980036_004_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6de697ca8b90981bc6d21d2c7479dd00
id:
d3cbf18d13b2242d623ff3ef2a7f7754
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergensavisen_null_null_20150122_1_21_1
title:
Bergensavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20150122
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_bergensavisen_null_null_20150122_1_21_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d3cbf18d13b2242d623ff3ef2a7f7754
id:
750c114616cae20ea0aa79ed3b0bae10
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_bergensavisen_null_null_20141115_1_307_1
title:
Bergensavisen
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20141115
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_bergensavisen_null_null_20141115_1_307_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/750c114616cae20ea0aa79ed3b0bae10

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.