EducationStandardCC0

The National Library

Name: The National Library
License: CC0

The National Library's open catalogue API (api.nb.no/catalog/v1) exposes more than 12 million digitised works from Norwegian cultural heritage. Metadata on books, newspapers, photographs, maps, sheet music and audio recordings. Access to images and full text is governed separately by per-work rights status; metadata is open. No API key required.

13.0M rows

Data volume

Daily

Updates

MCP tools

Example response — /items

{
  "data": "..."
}

MCP integration

Available MCP tools

nb.item

nb.newspapers

nb.search

Configuration for Claude Desktop / Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasjonalbiblioteket": {
      "url": "https://data.ketl.no/mcp/nasjonalbiblioteket",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer $KETL_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Analysis apps that use this source

Ready-made tools built on The National Library data. Use them directly in the browser, or wire the same data into your own analysis via the API below.

National Library

Search 12.9 million digitised works — books, newspapers, images, maps, music and sheet music from nb.no. Filter by media type and see what is out of copyright.

API endpoints

GET

/items

Søk i digital katalog

q optional: Fritekst-søk. q=ibsen
mediaType optional: Filtrer på medietype (bøker, aviser, bilder, …). mediaType=bøker
yearFrom optional: Nedre utgivelsesår (inkl.). yearFrom=1900
yearTo optional: Øvre utgivelsesår (inkl.). yearTo=1950
size optional: Treff per side. size=20
page optional: Sidenummer. page=1

Show curl example

# GET https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/items
curl \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/items"

Authenticated call — add one of these headers: x-api-key: ketl_… · Authorization: Bearer … — See the full reference in the documentation.

GET

/items/{id}

Hent ett verk

Show curl example

# GET https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/items/{id}
curl \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/items/{id}"

Authenticated call — add one of these headers: x-api-key: ketl_… · Authorization: Bearer … — See the full reference in the documentation.

GET

/newspapers

Søk i digitaliserte aviser

q optional: Fritekst-søk. q=grunnloven
yearFrom optional: Nedre utgivelsesår (inkl.). yearFrom=1900
yearTo optional: Øvre utgivelsesår (inkl.). yearTo=1950
size optional: Treff per side. size=20
page optional: Sidenummer. page=1

Show curl example

# GET https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/newspapers
curl \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "https://data.ketl.no/api/connectors/nasjonalbiblioteket/newspapers"

Authenticated call — add one of these headers: x-api-key: ketl_… · Authorization: Bearer … — See the full reference in the documentation.

Access and pricing

The National Library is openly available — create an account to get started.

bibliotekkulturarvbokeraviserkartdigitaliseringmetadata