In NotebookLM, you can create individual notebooks. A notebook is a collection of sources for a specific project.
Tip: Each notebook is independent. NotebookLM can’t access information across multiple notebooks at the same time.
Creating a Notebook
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On your device, open NotebookLM.
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To create a new notebook, select Create new notebook.
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To add a source, in the pop-up window, select Upload a source.
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Select the sources [LINK] you want to upload for your notebook or discover new sources.
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To start collaborating with NotebookLM:
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The “Chat” panel displays a generated summary of all your sources. You can ask questions about your sources, give instructions to perform actions, or choose from suggested options.
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The “Studio” panel is where outputs based on your sources are generated. In the studio panel, you can create and view:
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Audio Overviews
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Mind maps
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Notes
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Reports, choosing from FAQ, study guide, briefing document, or a timeline
Tip: You can add or remove sources in your notebook by selecting + Add or unselecting individual sources in the “Sources” panel.
Use chat in NotebookLM
After uploading your sources, you can:
NotebookLM uses direct quotes, text, and images straight from your sources as citations to answer your questions and perform actions. These citations help you check the accuracy of the response. You can hover over any citation to get the full quoted text right away. If you select a citation, NotebookLM automatically navigates to the location of the quote, so you can easily view it in context.
In your notebook, you can use the checkbox on each source to include or exclude certain sources the model should use to answer your question.
Tip: Chat responses in NotebookLM only use data from your sources. If you explicitly ask the model to do something more creative, like “rewrite the end of my short story,” you may receive, “NotebookLM can’t answer this question” as a chat response. Try to rephrase or ask a different question.
Sharing Notebooks
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Open a notebook.
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Select Share icon.
You can grant “Viewer” or “Editor” access to another user by adding their email address.
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A viewer has read-only access to all the source documents and notes you shared with them in the shared notebook.
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An editor can view, add, or remove sources and notes in your shared notebook as well as share it further with other users.
Tip: With a New School account you can share a notebook with an unlimited number of individual users and Google Groups within the same organization.
When notebooks are shared with a group, users do not receive any welcome emails or notifications.
Note: Public sharing of Notebooks is not a current feature for Education Accounts.