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 2026-10-03T14:44:38Z in 0.269 seconds.

total:

115

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
de5219c97c95f4e742bc8e040d722b53
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20030721_105_164_1
title:
Asker og Bærums budstikke
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20030721
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20030721_105_164_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/de5219c97c95f4e742bc8e040d722b53
id:
1b83a1c56a70cbc063a4fc47967c9931
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20021108_104_259_1
title:
Asker og Bærums budstikke
creators:
not reported by source
year:
20021108
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Akershus
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_askerogbaerumsbudstikke_null_null_20021108_104_259_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/1b83a1c56a70cbc063a4fc47967c9931
id:
8ed001424ed754e9606bbe17523e5a57
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_tilskuerenmossatten_null_null_18410818_1_66_1
title:
Tilskueren (Moss: 1839-1843)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18410818
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Østfold
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_tilskuerenmossatten_null_null_18410818_1_66_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/8ed001424ed754e9606bbe17523e5a57
id:
98b34143ce254581749eda8f2d7f1801
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_trondhjemsborgerligerealskole_null_null_18470107_80_3_1
title:
Trondhjems borgerlige Realskoles alene-priviligerede Adressecontoirs-Efterretninger
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18470107
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_trondhjemsborgerligerealskole_null_null_18470107_80_3_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/98b34143ce254581749eda8f2d7f1801
id:
cc3cade933eea715c9d86f03a9a2a43a
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_trondhjemsborgerligerealskole_null_null_18371205_52_97_1
title:
Trondhjems borgerlige Realskoles alene-priviligerede Adressecontoirs-Efterretninger
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18371205
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Trøndelag
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_trondhjemsborgerligerealskole_null_null_18371205_52_97_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/cc3cade933eea715c9d86f03a9a2a43a
id:
20fce02ff7288443f9b25400f3332307
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017101326017
title:
Een let Arithmetica, Eller Regne-Kunst : Hvor udi findes Alle slags Ud-Regninger, icke alleene til Lettelse ved den daglig Handel udi Kiøb og Sal enten Prisen er liden eller stoer men end og gandske bequem og nyttig for Folk af alle slags Conditioner
creators:
2 results
1. Matthisen, Søren
2. Lehn, Abraham
year:
1700
publisher:
Kongl. Majsts. priviligeret Bogtryckerie
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. dan
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017101326017_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/20fce02ff7288443f9b25400f3332307
id:
d3692b678ca1d175b99e52fb9862e76e
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordrebergenhusamtstidende_null_null_18940818_21_33_1
title:
Nordre Bergenhus Amtstidende
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18940818
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestland
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nordrebergenhusamtstidende_null_null_18940818_21_33_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d3692b678ca1d175b99e52fb9862e76e
id:
0c2aa08983c7482660bb8f75cc0ec093
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hortensavis_null_null_18800714_5_72_1
title:
Hortens Avis
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18800714
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Vestfold
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_hortensavis_null_null_18800714_5_72_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/0c2aa08983c7482660bb8f75cc0ec093
id:
d3512649914c419fd04b1e509bdb7619
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_socialdemokraten_null_null_18931214_10_145_1
title:
Social-Demokraten
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18931214
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_socialdemokraten_null_null_18931214_10_145_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/d3512649914c419fd04b1e509bdb7619
id:
11d8079a729c4af2838d80fb8093dcb7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nationalbladetattenfemtito_null_null_18520306_1_19_1
title:
Nationalbladet (Oslo: 1852)
creators:
not reported by source
year:
18520306
publisher:
not reported by source
media_types:
1 results
1. aviser
languages:
1 results
1. Norsk bokmål
county:
Oslo
digital:
yes
public_domain:
yes
license:
publicdomain
viewability:
ALL
access_allowed_from:
EVERYWHERE
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_nationalbladetattenfemtito_null_null_18520306_1_19_1-1_001_null/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/11d8079a729c4af2838d80fb8093dcb7

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.