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 2026-09-26T07:14:09Z in 0.239 seconds.

total:

2212

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
83eb73cbec5bd663ecc0363e113d7a35
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20160705_67_75_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160705
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20160705_67_75_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/83eb73cbec5bd663ecc0363e113d7a35
id:
e07944e3a31e93685afe6cc37027f18d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20161008_67_116_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20161008
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20161008_67_116_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e07944e3a31e93685afe6cc37027f18d
id:
7e7df986b412f071b97b60e6821f1d0c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20140624_65_71_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140624
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20140624_65_71_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7e7df986b412f071b97b60e6821f1d0c
id:
b8a3ab14b45e588118ab591aac6b7ad5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20080617_59_68_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20080617
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20080617_59_68_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b8a3ab14b45e588118ab591aac6b7ad5
id:
674a136ee70da40a32d14936978b348a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20140904_65_102_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20140904
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20140904_65_102_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/674a136ee70da40a32d14936978b348a
id:
7b963c70089fb0081911d937a835a5cc
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20160412_67_40_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20160412
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20160412_67_40_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/7b963c70089fb0081911d937a835a5cc
id:
57e2ff3af0eb5059499aa9eba2bcbd39
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20081016_59_120_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20081016
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20081016_59_120_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/57e2ff3af0eb5059499aa9eba2bcbd39
id:
78734d36f8a542eddcc9691841fa06e9
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20090613_60_66_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20090613
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20090613_60_66_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/78734d36f8a542eddcc9691841fa06e9
id:
5b83dea7cc672b1a9d29a374eb6352f4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20100701_61_73_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20100701
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20100701_61_73_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/5b83dea7cc672b1a9d29a374eb6352f4
id:
515fda9ddfe74c2a21588657c9b3abbf
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20221216_72_99_1
title:
Sør-Varanger Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20221216
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Finnmark
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_sorvarangeravis_null_null_20221216_72_99_1-1_001_hovedavis/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/515fda9ddfe74c2a21588657c9b3abbf

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.