Be creative and try searching with synonyms, abbreviations, acronyms, or even scientific terms.

When researching about the issue or topic, try:

• Public Opinion
• Awareness
• Attitudes
• Behavior
• Prevention
• Intervention

For researching public health campaigns, try:

• Public health communication
• Health promotion
• Health risk communication
• Communication in medicine

Or for broader understandings of PSAs, advertising, media, and/or visual rhetoric:

• Public service advertising
• Public service announcements
• Media campaigns
• Advertising campaigns
• Visual communication

For access to the full-text of an article (either in print or online), look for and click on the icon in our databases. This will open another window indicating where and how we may have access through Hekman Library.

Need an orientation (or reorientation) to using Hekman Library?  Check out this "Get Connected" guide or browse our How-to playlist on Youtube for videos on searching the library catalog, using encyclopedias, choosing a database, and more.

Note that if you're off-campus, one of the most important tips for exploring research resources is to start at the library homepage, so you'll be recognized as a Calvin user when connecting to the library's databases and ebooks (when you're prompted to login, enter your Calvin username and passphrase.)

For this project you'll be researching a public health issue or problem that has prompted a persuasive (PSA) campaign.

You'll be looking for research about:

• The problem or issue itself - the causes and effects, who is most impacted, extent and scope, etc.
• How this issue/problem has been addressed through persuasive communication campaigns.  This may include your chosen campaign but also other persuasive campaigns that address the same issue or may be similar. What strategies have been effective (or not), etc?
• For your own poster PSA, then, research your own audience (Calvin students) - their attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs about the problem. You may also want to research college students broadly.

It's unlikely that you will find research directly related to your chosen health campaign. But it may exist; you could still check on the website of your campaign or its sponsoring organization or agency. (Look for links to areas such as "About" or "Resources.")

If you're using GoogleScholar from off-campus, watch this video on how to link your Google search to Hekman Library to activate the Full-Text@Hekman service:

Youtube Video - How to Link Google Scholar to Hekman Library

Use this handout to help you know how to search for bibliographic citations: