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 2026-09-26T07:28:09Z in 0.193 seconds.

total:

219204

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
5fd027cced421a070a9f59afc7170216
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Grunnskolen i Vennesla : et tilbakeblikk
creators:
3 results
1. Vennesla
2. Vennesla historielag
3. Hægeland sogelag
year:
1989
publisher:
Vennesla kommune
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
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/5fd027cced421a070a9f59afc7170216
id:
30fd31149b40a4a47a40f9335ff4915c
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2021011981146_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2008
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2008
publisher:
Historielaget.
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_2021011981146_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/30fd31149b40a4a47a40f9335ff4915c
id:
0ec6540d6ad041626abd336515220e55
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2021012081092_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2014
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2014
publisher:
Historielaget.
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_2021012081092_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0ec6540d6ad041626abd336515220e55
id:
294f5d3446b437f9a855c1d0b611dd68
urn:
not reported by source
title:
Vennesla : turkart
creators:
3 results
1. Aas, Steinar
2. Vennesla historielag
3. I.L. Vindbjart
year:
1992
publisher:
Idrettlaget
media_types:
1 results
1. kart
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/294f5d3446b437f9a855c1d0b611dd68
id:
1f00b9b41562ed89d6e1f79a588c5784
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2022122083064_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2022
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2022
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2022122083064_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1f00b9b41562ed89d6e1f79a588c5784
id:
6b7bde09fcf5168d4fbbf8dec57d9d98
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023011180020_007
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2011
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2011
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2023011180020_007_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6b7bde09fcf5168d4fbbf8dec57d9d98
id:
2b68e55b9692f33ac84e27cc39353c52
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023022183003_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 1992
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
1992
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2023022183003_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2b68e55b9692f33ac84e27cc39353c52
id:
e8d3e64af1d6654d6fef487ed585d708
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024010983011_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2023
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2023
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2024010983011_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e8d3e64af1d6654d6fef487ed585d708
id:
004d320b38f515eb61a08f72aa05fe25
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2026012283041_001
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2025
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2025
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2026012283041_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/004d320b38f515eb61a08f72aa05fe25
id:
2c2c170d621183d8dcb64ea8d92c3a60
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023011180020_009
title:
Årsskrift (Vennesla historielag). 2013
creators:
1 results
1. Vennesla historielag
year:
2013
publisher:
Vennesla historielag
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_2023011180020_009_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/2c2c170d621183d8dcb64ea8d92c3a60

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.