Research Basics        

• Choosing a Good Topic

• Citing Sources

• Understanding Call Numbers

Understanding Sources        

• Evaluating Sources for Credibility

• Anatomy of a Scholarly Article

• What Are Primary Sources?

Finding Resources       

• Where to Search

• Searching for Articles

• Searching for Databases

• Using the Everything Search

• Find Primary Sources

For more topics, browse the full list.

By: Dorianne St. Fleur via The Muse

While it’s true that terrible jobs are often directly related to a horrible bossor boring, tedious work, things that can be hard to problem-solve, many people have found a way to enjoy what they do in spite of a few outstanding negatives. A recent study showed that 49.6% of people enjoy their jobs.

Even though almost half of employees like their jobs, if you’re part of the 50.4% of people who don’t, it can be hard not to see folks who love what they do as unicorns of the workplace. People who’ve been given access to the best jobs and opportunities and who have all the chips falling into place. The lucky ones.

But the truth is, more often than not, people who are satisfied with their jobs simply do a few things differently than everyone else—they don’t necessarily have the best managers or a to-do list full of very important items. Here’s what sets them apart:

1. They Don’t Seek Perfection

Although this may come as a shock—especially while scrolling through your social media feeds and seeing all those people bragging about their dream jobs—fulfillment is in large part about attitude. No one has a “perfect” work situation. If you were to take a peek behind the scenes of someone who likes their job, you’d probably find they still have to deal with the unavoidable challenges we all face (like recovering from a mistake or dealing with a condescending colleague), and that some days really aren’t so great.

Instead of obsessing over the mishaps though (or even the fact that their boss is super moody), they embrace the positive parts. They don’t attempt to love every moment of every day. They know that a certain amount of drudgery and politics is par for the course, and they relish the meaty assignments and opportunity to contribute their talents. Giving up the illusion of perfection separates them and ultimately makes them feel more satisfied.

2. They Set Career Goals

As a HR professional and career coach, I encounter individuals almost daily who are at varying levels of job satisfaction. What I’ve found is if you ask people who are unsatisfied what their professional goals are for the next three, six, or 12 months, most of them will likely tell you they’re not sure. Or if they do have goals, they tend to be non-specific and don’t get to the heart of what will help them appreciate their work more.

Setting career goals for yourself allows you to have a sense of direction, motivation, and accountability. People who love their jobs know this and are always striving toward something. Whether it’s getting a promotion, a title change, or more autonomy, there’s a constant desire to achieve. And because there’s always something else to look forward to (learning a new skill, finding a new mentor, becoming a mentor), there’s little time for things to feel stagnant.

3. They Play to Their Strengths

Although we’ve all been taught (and it may feel like a no-brainer) to focus on strengthening our weaknesses, people who enjoy their work generally spend most of their time on things they’re skilled in.

Continuing to excel at the things you do well—like solving complex problems for your team or presenting your ideas in front of large audiences—is much easier than trying to improve in the areas where you’re struggling (and perhaps have always struggled). Plus, the satisfaction you feel from doing a good job, will go a long way when it comes to overall fulfillment. Emphasizing your unique strengths will make you more confident and increase the likelihood that you’ll want to operate at your highest level, which is basically a prerequisite to enjoying what you do for work.

4. They Have Friends at Work

People who like their job, more often than not, also like their co-workers. When you’re comfortable with the people you work with every day, it’s easier to be your authentic self, there’s more space for your creativity to flow, and there’s also room for you to vent your frustrations (something we all need from time to time). This means you’re more likely to share your goals (no matter how ambitious or lofty) and to express your opinions (even if they’re different from everyone else’s).

You don’t have to force yourself to become BFFs with every single person in the office, but you should make an effort to build genuine relationships with your colleagues since it’s been shown to lead to more engagement and satisfaction at work.

If you’ve resigned yourself to being unhappy at your job, ask yourself if you’ve done everything you can to make your situation better. Have you tried to accept the parts you can’t change (like the open office set up or the shoddy internet)? Do you throw yourself into work you have a chance to make stand out? Do you give yourself a pat on the back when you complete a project or receive praise from your team? Do you approach each day with at least a neutral mindset, hopeful for good things to come as opposed to waiting for everything to crash and burn?

Obviously, there are certain situations that no amount of acceptance or willed positivity can fix, but dire scenarios aside, see if you can’t also be one of the lucky ones by following these ideas.

The Women’s Center at UMBC turns 25 this year! We’re excited to share our important milestone with UMBC’s 50th Anniversary and will be celebrating throughout the year with the rest of campus! We were inspired by Special Collections archival project Archives Gold: 50 Objects for UMBC’s 50th and decided to do our own digging into the Women’s Center archives. Over the course of the year, we’ll be sharing 25 “Then vs Now” archives to celebrate the origin and evolution of the Women’s Center at UMBC.

This week we’re featuring the history of Women’s Center anniversary celebrations! 

Student Staff at The Women’s Center’s 25th anniversary photo booth

The Women’s Center has always had something to celebrate. We often talk about how women-centered spaces and activists spaces by their very nature are radical and bold and well, we find that worth celebrating. As you already know, this year the Women’s Center is celebrating our 25th anniversary. We kicked off the year with a birthday party where some of our founding members and critical people in our history spoke about the importance of Women’s Centers and the way they had seen the Women’s Center grow over the years. We had cupcakes, enjoyed a feminist- inspired photo- booth, and had a wonderful time. Throughout the year, we continued to document and celebrate our history at events such as Critical Social Justice and welcoming Provost Rous to the Women’s Center to meet with current students, staff, and faculty. We also reached out to alum and former staff members over the year and created a 25 Friends of the Women’s Center to honor those who have given of their time and resources to support our work.

Simmona Simmons, a founder of The Women’s Center, speaks for the 25th anniversary celebration

But how have we celebrated past anniversaries?

During our 10th year of operation, the Women’s Center hosted a chair making event in which student organizations and departments connected to the Center, decorated a chair to represent themselves in the space. For many years, these chairs lined the walls of the Women’s Center as both decoration and useful places to sit. While the chairs are not out in our space on a daily basis anymore, you’ll see them make an appearance during roundtable events or other gatherings that require additional seating.

For our 20th anniversary, the Women’s Center Advisory Board and professional staff were committed to hosting large anniversary celebrations over the course of the year. Key events included our opening and closing picnic,a collection of women photographers featured in the Library gallery, and a service project at a local women’s shelter. UMBC student, Stefanie Mavronis, ’12 , interviewed many UMBC students, staff, and faculty for a digital story telling project to capture the theme of the anniversary: 100,000 Stories – Which One is Yours.  In the spirit of the chair decorating that happened in our 10th year, we created a quilt featuring student organizations and departments that continue to be important to who we are as a Center.

Unveiling the 20th anniversary quilt lovingly crafted by student staff member, Lizzy Wunsch, Class of 2015. 

What are the memories you have of the Women’s Center over the years that are meaningful to you? What does the Women’s Center mean to you today? Share your memories and pictures with us in the comment section below!

Stay up-to-date with our 25th anniversary on social media using #UMBCWC25. Share your Women’s Center experiences and memories with the UMBC community using #UMBCWC25 AND #UMBC50!

In partnership with Maryland Traditions and the Maryland State Arts Council, the Special Collections department is excited to make available the Jason Pate collection. Special Collections student assistant Riley Auer assisted with the processing of the collection and prepared this blog post. Thank you, Riley!

Jason Thomas Pate (1915-1960) first aired his radio station, WASA, on May 15, 1948 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. It was the first broadcasting station between Baltimore, MD and Wilmington, DE playing 500 watts and eventually expanded to some 1500 watts before its sale to KME in 1992. After a sudden heart attack, Pate died in 1960 leaving two radio stations, WASA and WHDG, in the care of his wife, Virginia Forwood Pate Wetter. Although Pate Wetter had no previous broadcasting experience, she accepted the role of President of WASA (1960) and CEO of the Chesapeake Broadcasting Company (1985), parent company to WASA, and continued her husband’s legacy with the help of her son Jason David Pate.

WASA made its fame by establishing itself as an authority on folklife in the Appalachian and Chesapeake Regions. Influential artists such as “jubilee” singers the Little Wonders, banjoist Ted Lundy, country gospel singers E.C. and Orna Ball, singer and banjoist Ola Belle Reed (1916-2002) and her brother, guitarist Alex Campbell (1923-2013), also made frequent appearances performing traditional folk and bluegrass music. Reed and Campbell, natives of Ashe County, North Carolina, quickly rose to local fame by performing at various music parks, alongside other musicians, and on local radio stations, such as Pate’s stations. Reed later began a successful solo career leaving a legacy that has inspired artists such as Tim O’brien, Marty Stuart, Del McCoury, the Avett Brothers, and more. In 2015 Clifford Murphy, Henry Glassie, and Doug Peach published a book and two-part audio collection titled Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line (UMBC catalog record). The book and recording, based on research compiled by Glassie in the 1960s and recent fieldwork by Murphy, Glassie, and Peach, documents the careers of Ola Belle and Alex, and their many projects and contributions to the genres of bluegrass and folk.

A selection of materials from the Jason Pate collection:

Today a large collection recordings from WASA can be found within the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress, and, here, at the UMBC Special Collections. Thanks to efforts by Murphy, then the director of Maryland Traditions (the state's folklife program), UMBC proudly holds several Maryland folklife collections including the Jason Pate collection which features over 1,000 audio recordings from WASA and WHGD whose axillary contents include fan letters to Pate, club mailers, guitar lessons, artist posters, and more. After 2 years of careful photo-documentation, cataloguing, and detailed processing, the Jason Pate collection has been processed and is open to the public.

For more information about the individuals Jason Pate hosted on his radio shows, including those mentioned above, see the Jason Pate collection finding aid or contact the Special Collections department.

Reference list for the attached image, left to right, top to bottom:
Thank you note from “The Ernest Tubb Record Shops”, (Coll123_0364)
“Queen Elizabeth’s Cake” Recipe, (Coll123_1194)
January 10, 1977 Letter from E.C. Ball, (Coll123_0109)
Ola Belle Reed recording dated September 23, 1975, (Coll123_1051)
Ola Belle Reed & Maiwers Mountaineers Recording, (Coll123_0362)
“Beverly King Sings and Plays the Blue Ridge Hills” 45 record, (Coll123_1255)
“The Ralph Stanley International Fan Club” insert, (Coll123_0064)
View of “Campus Challenge, Tape #455”, (Coll123_0188)
Chuckie Reed, Ola Belle Reed + Friends recording dated July 10, 1976, (Coll123_1524)
“Flatpicking” sheet music, (Coll123_0055)
Interior of a tape container lid, (Coll123_0064)
“Mountain Music Shindig; Vol. 5, No. 5” mailer, (Coll123_0041)
View of “Mountain Music Shindig” tape container interior, (Coll123_0364)
“Stanley Brothers Old Time Tape Club” insert, (Coll123_0064)

OCSS is now accepting applications for the first-ever Commuter Engagement Community (CEC).  This is an opportunity for new, first-year commuter students who want to leave their mark on UMBC while benefitting local communities.

The Commuter Engagement Community parallels the experience offered by Living-Learning Communities in residence halls. This CEC is being offered in conjunction with the Shriver Center and will allow UMBC commuters to connect with one another while positively impacting their communities. The CEC includes a one-credit class component, bi-weekly meetings to discuss student experiences, and immersive academic and social experiences. The CEC will also give participants an opportunity to be mentored by upperclassmen commuter students who successfully transitioned into life as a UMBC Retriever.

Participation in the CEC requires:

• Enrollment in OCSS's PRAC 096
• Enrollment in SOC 396 or the SOCY 396 independent study section
• Completion of a service assignment in the local community (3-5 hours per week)
• Participation in social and academic events

If you are interested in applying for the CEC, please complete the attached application and submit it by Friday, August 11th at 11:59pm.  If you have questions for concerns, please contact Katie Weir, Coordinator for Commuter Engagement, at kweir@umbc.edu.