Get started with NotebookLM

  • 2 June 2025

Google NotebookLM is an AI-powered note-taking and research assistant, offers a powerful solution by acting as a personalized AI expert grounded in the documents and sources you provide. Think of it as your virtual assistant that can summarize facts, explain complex ideas, and brainstorm new connections - all based on what you input. Learn more about using AI at the University of Alberta.

Accessing NotebookLM

There are two ways to get started with using NotebookLM:

Putting NotebookLM to work

After uploading your documents, NotebookLM becomes an instant expert in those sources so you can read, take notes and collaborate with it to refine and organize your ideas.

Key features

  • Gain new understandings about any document
    • Convert complex material into easy-to-understand formats like audio overviews, FAQs or briefing docs
  • A chatbot grounded in your sources
  • Structure information with a branching diagram
    • Summarize your uploaded sources, showing main topics and related ideas as a mind map

Create a notebook

Create notebooks by uploading your sources in various formats (like Google Docs and slides, PDFs, web URLs, copied text, YouTube URLs). You can then ask questions about the information in your sources, and NotebookLM will respond with an answer and inline citations. These citations show you where in the sources the answer is based on.

You can also use NotebookLM to generate a variety of content based on your sources, like summaries, briefing documents, timelines, FAQs, study guides and audio overviews. 

  1. On your computer, open NotebookLM
  2. Click on + Add Source in the left panel
  3. Click Insert
  4. Start collaborating with NotebookLM:
    1. View an automatically generated summary of all your sources in the center of the screen
    2. Ask questions about your sources by typing at the bottom of the screen
    3. Use the Studio panel on the right to create outputs grounded in your sources: 
      1. Create an audio overview
      2. Create an FAQ, study guide, table of contents, timeline, or briefing document.
      3. Add notes to your notebook
      4. Generate a mind map
  5. Add or delete sources in your notebook

Frequently asked questions

Why can’t I share a “Chat only” notebook, view usage analytics, or access advanced chat settings?

These NotebookLM premium features are not available for U of A accounts. Additional limitations may also apply.

Are there any limitations when using NotebookLM?

With NotebookLM, you can have up to 100 notebooks, with each notebook containing up to 50 sources. Each of those sources can be up to 500,000 words long. All users start with up to 50 chat queries and 3 audio generations per day.

Are my Notebooks reviewed by Google or used to train Google AI models?

No. NotebookLM is a core Google Workspace service supported by Information Services and Technology (IST) and is therefore included and protected by the University of Alberta’s agreement with Google. Interactions with NotebookLM stay within the University of Alberta and they are not reviewed by humans or otherwise used to improve Google's generative AI models. 

What do I need to consider when submitting information to NotebookLM?

U of A Google Workspace is approved for storing and sharing the university's business, academic, research and administrative information and records. Extremely sensitive information such as identifiable patient and health care information, social insurance numbers and passport information, is not to be stored in or shared through U of A Google Workspace applications, including NotebookLM.

Additional information about NotebookLM can be found at the NotebookLM Help.