Collections.

Which love story will not be true to you?

A. Bacon: a Love Story: a Salty Survey of Everybody's Favorite Meat
B. True North Strong and Free: A Love Story
C. Married to Africa: a Love Story
D. Aesop's Mirror: a Love Story
E. Late Edition: a Love Story

Which of these is not a real tale of madness?

A. The Madness of March: Bonding and Betting with the Boys in Las Vegas
B. Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach
C. Trapped by Love: the Madness of Compulsive Collecting
D. Madness and Modernity: Mental Illness and the Visual Arts in Vienna 1900

Which of these is not a real obsession?

A. A Maze of Twisty Little Passages, All Alike: Sewers, Games, and Obsession
B. Go Ask Your Father: One Man's Obsession with Finding his Origins Through DNA Testing
C. The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession
D. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man's Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science

Which of these is not a book on metaphorical demons in the King County Library System?

A. Chased by Demons: Grief and Long Distance Running
B. Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict
C. Demons in Eden: the Paradox of Plant Diversity
D. Seattle and the Demons of Ambition: a Love Story

Which of these survival guides is made up?

A. Our Frontman Can't Go Bald!: A Survival Guide for The Aging Hip
B. "I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican": A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous
C. How to Raise your Parents: A Teen Girl's Survival Guide
D. Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
(answer after the break)

Which of these books on the undead is untrue?

A. The Zombie Handbook: How to Identify the Living Dead and Survive the Coming Zombie Apocalypse
B. Zombie Haiku
C. Zombie CSU: the Forensics of the Living Dead
D. Lonely Planet Zombie: Tales of the Undead from Every Culture
(answer after the break)

Which of these handbooks is not the real deal?

A. Cabinology: a Handbook to Your Private Hideaway
B. The Official Filthy Rich Handbook
C. Roasting Raccoon: The Varmint Cookin' Handbook
D. The Housewife's Handbook: How to Run the Modern Home
(answer after the break)

If you're looking for primary source information, databases are one place to find it. Here are a few of the KCLS databases that include primary sources:

African American Experience
Covering the modern and historical African American experience, there is a Primary Source Index under Resources.

Daily Life Online
Daily life in other cultures and through history, with information drawn from the acclaimed series of books from Greenwood Press, there is a Primary Documents link under Resources.

Latino American Experience
Covering the modern and historical Latino American experience, there is a Primary Source Index under Resources.

New York Times - Historical Newspapers
Full text and images from the New York Times are available dating back to 1851.

Nineteenth Century Newspapers
Full text and images from a variety of US newspapers from the 1800s.

Primary Sources Reference Collection
A collection of online books that collect primary sources. These are also listed in the main library catalog.

World Conflicts Today
Reports on major world conflicts, each with primary sources available.

American Indian History and Culture
Covering Native American history, there is a Primary Sources option under Browse.

American Song and Music Online
Original music from the time and place being researched, sometimes about the event itself, are available for online streaming.

AP Images
Newsworthy photographs, including historical photographs.

Discovering Collection
The collection includes books on history and searches can be limited to primary sources. Heritage Quest
Though aimed at genealogical researchers, this database contains many primary source local history books.

Newspaper Archive
Historic newspapers from small and large towns.

Sanborn Maps
Historical maps of Washington state cities and towns.

Which of these handbooks is not really available to handle?

A. The Handbook of Vintage Remedies.
B. The Complete Coracle Handbook: Boating the Portable Way
C. The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook
D. The Complete Anchoring Handbook: Stay Put on Any Bottom in Any Weather
(answer after the break)

What are primary sources?
Primary sources are sources of historical information that were created at the time of the historical event or later by witnesses to the event. They may be government records, diaries, letters, photographs or paintings, newspapers, interviews, or speeches: anything that is a first-hand account of a historical event.

What primary sources can I find in the library?
You can find reproductions of many primary sources: pictures of original documents, photographs, or transcriptions (re-typings or copies) of documents. If the historical event is relatively recent, you may even find some original documents.

Where are the primary sources?
They might be in books, magazines, databases, or on web pages. They might be in a format that also includes secondary sources.

What use are secondary sources?
Most research projects that require primary sources will also require some background research using secondary sources that can give a broad overview of the topic. These secondary sources will cite their own, often primary, sources in their bibliography. You can use the author's research to get your own research started.

Where can I find some good primary sources?

The library catalog: Search for your topic in the library catalog. Many of the books will include or help you find primary sources. Or try a keyword search for "primary sources" to see books and electronic books in the library collection. You may need to search for a broader topic to find a book that includes what you want, like searching for World War II instead of Iwo Jima.

Library databases: Go to http://www.kcls.org, click on Databases, then click on Primary Sources in the Subject List of Databases. This will list some major sources you can use online (with your library card). Many other databases will have a search option for primary sources.

Web sites: Find out what organizations study your topic. If they have a web site, they may have online versions of primary sources. Libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, and government agencies are all good starting places. Adding the phrase "digital collections," "archives," or "papers" to a general web search can often help you find an organization that has collected primary sources.

I still need help!

Talk to a librarian about what you need to find. Library staff are familiar with many ways to find primary sources.

A few great places for primary sources online:

American Memory from the Library of Congress
Primary sources for US history.

National Archives and Records Administration
The US Government's archive of government records through history.

HistoryLink
Primary and secondary sources for Washington State history.

Washington History
Historical books, newspapers and photographs from early Washington State history.