NotebookLM changes the way you interact with information within your organisation. In this guide, we cover the core features of NotebookLM and take a look at practical examples to help you get started.
Contents In This Guide
What Is NotebookLM?
You can think of NotebookLM as your AI-powered notebook and virtual assistant for research, analysis, and knowledge synthesis.
NotebookLM goes beyond simple keyword searches and offers a deeper, contextual understanding of the documents you work with. It can extract key insights, summarise content, and answer questions based on the materials provided.
These features make NotebookLM a powerful tool for professionals dealing with complex information, researchers, writers, and students.
If you want to try NotebookLM for your UK business, check out the latest Google Workspace plans.
Does NotebookLM Use Gemini?
NotebookLM leverages Google’s advanced AI model, Gemini, and offers a range of features to help you get research done more efficiently.
The integration with Gemini is crucial because it allows it to understand and process various forms of data, including text, images, and even audio and video in future iterations.
To find out more about Gemini, check out this guide.
What Is NotebookLM Used For?
Essentially, NotebookLM is an intelligent assistant, helping you make sense of complex information. These are some common use cases:
- Research and analysis: Quickly extract key insights, identify patterns, and synthesise information from multiple documents.
- Content creation: Generate summaries, outlines, and drafts based on your source materials.
- Business and legal: Analyse contracts, reports, and other documents to extract relevant information.
- Knowledge management: Organise and retrieve information efficiently to create a personalised knowledge base.
- Learning and education: Understand complex topics, create study guides, and prepare for exams.
- Code understanding: NotebookLM can also be used by developers to understand and summarise large code bases.
One of the most intriguing features of NotebookLM is its “Audio Overviews,” which generates podcast-like discussions about the source materials. The AI synthesises information to create a conversation between two AI voices discussing your materials.
We offer NotebookLM and Gemini training for teams and individuals – get in touch to find out more and get a free quote.
Practical Examples of Using NotebookLM
To illustrate the practical uses of NotebookLM, consider these scenarios:
Business analysts can upload multiple financial reports and ask NotebookLM to identify trends, compare performance, and generate a summary of key findings.
A lawyer could upload a complex contract and ask NotebookLM to identify key clauses, potential liabilities, and inconsistencies. This can significantly speed up the review process.
If you are a writer, you can upload several research articles and ask NotebookLM to generate an outline or draft for a blog post or article. This allows you to focus on refining the content rather than spending hours on the initial research.
A climate change researcher could upload multiple scientific papers, reports, and articles. NotebookLM can then summarise the key findings, identify conflicting viewpoints, and generate an overview of the current state of research.
In short, NotebookLM excels at finding connections between different pieces of information and answering questions based on your materials.
Is NotebookLM available in the UK?
NotebookLM is available in the United Kingdom and over 170 other regions where the Gemini API is available. Users must be over the age of 18 to access it.
The app is available for all Google Workspace plans for business.
Is Google NotebookLM free?
NotebookLM is free to try for anyone with a Google account in a region where the app is available, but features are limited. Organisations can access NotebookLM (including the Plus version) through their Google Workspace subscription.
What is NotebookLM Plus?
NotebookLM Plus is an enhanced version of NotebookLM with increased usage limits and additional features. “Higher usage limits” means more notebooks, daily chat queries, and sources per notebook.
Premium features also include advanced sharing options, advanced chat settings, and notebook analytics.
NotebookLM Plus is available with eligible Google Workspace editions, Google Cloud for enterprise, or a Google One AI Premium subscription.
If you are a researcher or professional dealing with large volumes of data, you may want to consider NotebookLM Plus once you’ve tried the free version.
The features of NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus include document uploads, AI-powered summaries, audio overviews, and question answering, with the Plus version offering increased limits, customisation, and collaboration. Image source: blog.google
How To Get Started With NotebookLM
To begin using NotebookLM, follow these general steps:
Step 1: Go to notebooklm.google.com
Step 2: Start a new notebook and give it a relevant name.
Step 3: Upload the documents you want to analyse. These can be PDFs, Google Docs, or other supported file types.
Step 4: Ask questions, request summaries, or generate content. You can use the chat interface to interact with the AI.
Feel free to experiment with the various features of NotebookLM, such as generating citations, creating outlines, and highlighting key passages.
How to Use NotebookLM Podcasts
Using the “podcast” (audio overview) feature of NotebookLM is simple. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Open or Create a Notebook.
Step 2: Within the NotebookLM interface, find the “Notebook Guide” section. This is where the audio overview generation occurs.
Step 3: There will be an option or button to generate an audio overview. Click on it.
NotebookLM will then process your documents, analyse the content, and generate the audio overview. This may take some time, depending on the length and complexity of your sources.
Step 4: Once the audio overview is generated, you can listen to it within the NotebookLM interface.
Step 5: Depending on the current version of NotebookLM, there should be an option to download the generated audio file. This allows you to listen to it offline or on other devices.
Listen below to an audio overview that we generated using the content of this guide and NotebookLM.
Key Points
- NotebookLM uses Gemini AI to process and analyse uploaded documents.
- Features include summarisation, question answering, and audio overviews.
- NotebookLM is available in the UK and other regions where the Gemini API is supported.
- Free to use with a premium NotebookLM Plus version available via Google Workspace plans.
- Use cases include research, business insights, and content creation.
- Training is available for all businesses looking to start using NotebookLM – get in touch with the Refractiv team to find out more.
