NotebookLM Guide and Use Cases

NotebookLM is a personalized, customized AI assistant in digital notebook form. Users upload sources and then use AI to chat with the sources, create summaries, take notes, and create tools like study guides, mind maps, videos and podcasts to better understand the sources in the Notebook. NotebookLM does not store what you upload or use it to train any AI model - it will only be shared with others if you share the notebooks.

Link to this Guide - go.ncsu.edu/delta-notebooklm-guide

Step-by-Step NotebookLM User Guide for Instructors

Important Settings/Considerations

• NotebookLM analysis/chatting is only using the files you upload so the QUALITY of the files you upload (or students upload) is very significant. Also, it is still doing it's own AI analysis and can make mistakes/interpret in ways that might be very different from how you would.

• Source Types for Upload: PDFs, Text files, Markdown files, Audio files (MP3/4), Google Docs, Google Slideshows, YouTube Videos (transcript analysis), Websites (paywall, i.e., library database source) restricted

• Use good prompting for the chat if you are asking more than a question - provide context and output requests like in a typical chatbot. Example "explain this to me as if I am an 8th grader)

• Share with NC State University unity/Gmail addresses as viewers or contributors. You can also share with an NC State Google Group. You cannot share to accounts outside of NC State University.

• There are public notebooks which can be good to play around with NotebookLM navigation, i.e. Secrets of the Super Agers and William Shakespeare: The Complete Plays. More can be found with a non-NC State Gmail account.

• The Plus version can be purchased as part of a "Google AI Pro for Education" license. This version allows you to configure your notebook to have a specific conversational style, provides more sharing options including controlling what parts of a notebook can be accessed, and analytics on the number of users and queries of a notebook in the past 7 days.

NotebookLM Resources

Google NotebookLM for teachers: 10 things to know for educators 

100+ ways to use Gemini and NotebookLM in education [Shared] 

The Ultimate Guide to NotebookLM - All 2025 Features Explained (YouTube Video)

General Uses for Instructors and Students

- Research and Notes Organization: Upload research papers, articles, other sources into a single notebook. NotebookLM can help identify themes, summarize key findings, and find connections and contradictions across sources.

- Meeting/Group Project Notes: Upload meeting notes, project plans, committee documents, etc. into a notebook. Use tools and the chat to summarize key decisions, extract action items, search for important information or dates, etc.

-Create Repositories: Upload articles, data sets, case studies, etc. to create a centralized, searchable repository - useful for end-of-semester projects or keeping up with course documents.

Specific Use Cases for Instructors

1. Course Materials: Instructors can upload lecture notes, syllabi, readings, and other course materials. NotebookLM can generate summaries, create study guides, and develop discussion questions based on the documents.

2. Make a Course FAQ Notebook: Upload syllabi, notes on frequently asked questions from previous semesters, assessment/project directions etc. and share the NotebookLM with students via a course Google Group. Students can question the NotebookLM 24/7 and have a starting point for course questions. Instructors can find gaps in their materials based on questions that can't be answered in the guide.

3. Videos and Podcasts: In the Studio panel, create and share podcasts or videos to get students thinking about a course topic, review for a guest speaker, set the tone for an in-class discussion, etc. Can be downloaded and added to Panopto for sharing.

4. Curriculum Development: Build a notebook or multiple notebooks based on materials for a module, topic, chapter, etc. use the NotebookLM studio to create interactives study materials for students including flashcards, quizzes, review videos, audio overviews, etc.

5. Feedback: Upload student papers so NotebookLM can analyze them to identify common themes, strengths, and weaknesses. Use the themes to guide feedback.

6. Alignment: Upload objectives, program objectives, course maps, etc. and use the notebook chat to determine if new activities, sources, assessments, etc. are aligned with the objectives.

7. Organize and Theme Articles: Upload a large number of articles and use NotebookLM to group them by theme or topic to share with students or use in preparation for courses.

8. Professional Development/Committees: Instructors can keep notes on workshops, conferences, and other professional development activities.

9. Feedback and Annotations: Instructors can provide feedback directly on student notes in shared NotebookLMs.

10. Class Debate Activity: Create a "pro" and a "con" notebook and ask students to use the chat to help prepare for an in-class debate

Specific Use Cases for Students

1. Class Notes: Students can take organized notes during lectures, ensuring they capture key points and concepts.

2. Study Groups or Group Projects: Students can collaborate on shared notes, allowing for collective study sessions and knowledge sharing. Students can pool research, sources found, brainstorm ideas and draft collaboratively in notes.

3. Research Projects: Can be used to compile research notes, sources, and references in one place. Draft a literature review by uploading research notes and sources documents to find themes and gaps.

4. Exam Preparation: Students can create condensed study guides from their notes, making it easier to review before exams.

5. Generate Outlines: Upload notes, article summaries, primary sources, etc. and use the NotebookLM studio mind map feature or ask in the chat for an outline.

6. Analyze Complex Texts: Upload dense or complex readings to get simplified summaries, definitions of key terms, and lists of core concepts.