1. Use double quotes to search for exact phrases:
Enclose exact phrases in double quotes "like this" to emphasize search results containing that phrase.
2. Create your own search engine for a particular website using Google:
To search within a particular website, add the following "site:" statement to your search results.
aids medication coca cola site:allafrica.com
3. Eliminate commonly associated search terms:
You can exclude search results that include certain words. This might be useful if you're researching a less well-known case in a country with a more prominent protest or movement. For example:
iran boycott -oscars -oil
4. Emphasize certain search terms:
Use the + sign to bring search results containing certain terms towards the top of your Google results. For example:
dakar demonstration 2001 +women
5. Search for only academic websites:
Add site:.edu to your search terms to search (US) academic websites. For example:
kick coke campaign site:.edu
6. Search for websites from a specific country (e.g. the one you're researching):
1. Google the country name and the word "domain," e.g. botswana domain
2. In the search results, you'll see the (top-level) domain associated with that country, e.g. .co.bw
3. Do a new search for your topic, but limit results to just that country: e.g. mothers protest 2011 site:.co.bw
4. You may find useful articles or links from your search results. But also keep an eye out for the names of newspapers, publications, organizations, and other possible leads.
Notes: Use this with care! The top-level domain limit isn't completely reliable. Many of the results you find will be from the country you're searching for, but there's no guarantee. Try to think critically about your sources and where they're coming from rather than relying on the top-level domain to tell you.
7. Use Google's built-in Search Tools to find recently updated websites:
On a Google search results page, click the grey text "Search Tools" right below the search box. Then you can narrow results to recently updated websites, and sometimes resort your search results by date instead of Google's idea of relevance.