Transcription
Gemini AI becomes so much more powerful when you use it with NotebookLM. So in this step-by-step tutorial, I'm going to show you everything you need to know about creating and managing your notebooks so you can organize your chats and use specific sources.
To get started, you want to expand your sidebar on the left-hand side and down below you will see a section called notebooks. Now, I've already created a few notebooks. Here you can see I've referenced some very specific sources, only the sources that I wanted to use. I've grouped a number of chats together and I can give it very specific instructions. This not only saves me so much more time, it allows me to come back and not have to repeat myself or give it additional sets of instructions.
So to get started, we want to select "Add New Notebook." And the first thing we need to do is give it a name. In my example, we are going to be doing some customer research. I want to find the ideal client or the ideal customer for my product or for my service and I want to keep all of that information in one place. So after giving it a name, you are going to be presented with your notebook space. You'll see it here on the left-hand side under your notebooks and it will add an emoji or an icon here. Now, don't worry, we can always change that. If I come over here to the left-hand side and select the three-dot menu, I can select "Rename," click on that emoji and since we're talking about customer research, let's select this person as our icon and it will differentiate from the other notebooks that I'm already using.
Now, when it comes to using and getting the most out of your notebook, there are really three areas we want to pay attention to. We are going to set up some custom notebook settings, including notebook instructions. We are going to add specific sources, which can include websites, which can include documents or images. And then down at the bottom is where we can manage and access all of our past chats.
Here in the middle of the screen, you can see that we can simply start a new chat, just like you would with any other area within Gemini. The difference is is that this chat will be saved or will be grouped together down below. Now, you can have as many chats as you like, but the power of doing this within a notebook is that it can reference all of those other chats. So, let's get started with those custom instructions.
If we come up to the top right of the screen and select the three-dot menu, we can select "Notebook Settings." Now, by default, this "Use Notebook Memory" is going to be turned on. It means it's going to consider all of those chats when responding in this notebook. I can't think of a very good reason why you would want to turn this off, because this is really one of the key benefits of using notebooks within Gemini is referencing all of those other chats. Then down below, we can add some detailed instructions so that it knows what we are trying to achieve, what our goal is, what the purpose of this notebook happens to be. You can not only include the tone and format, but again, you can be very explicit in terms of dates, in terms of numbers, the details that you want it to reference within this notebook.
In fact, one of the first things that I do is get Gemini to help me create that set of instructions. "Help me create a set of custom instructions for my new notebook, which is going to help me research the ideal client or ideal customer for my business. The end goal is to develop two distinct personas or customer profiles that I can use for marketing purposes." So, I've just told Gemini exactly what I want out of this notebook and to help me create those set of instructions. This is exactly what I can simply now copy and then paste into my set of instructions. I'm going to hit "Save" and now it's going to reference that information whenever I am chatting with in this notebook.
You'll see down below, here is that first chat where I have asked it to create those set of instructions. But, there's also a good chance that you already have other conversations or other chats that you would like to include into your notebook. For example, my two most recent chats here on the left-hand side are directly related to this customer research and I'd like to reference those within my notebook as well. So, how do you add something to your notebook? By hovering over your chat and selecting the three dots, we can select "Add to Notebook." I'm going to select that option. It's going to show me all of my notebooks. I'm going to select "Customer Research." It is then going to add it to this notebook. I'm going to do this one more time for the other chat that I was conversing with earlier today and now this notebook can reference that information as well. By clicking on it, you can go immediately into the contents of that chat. To go back to the main screen or the first page of your notebook, you can simply come to the left-hand side, click on the notebook, and then view all of your chats down below.
Next, let's take a look at perhaps the most powerful aspect of using notebooks within Gemini, and that is adding specific sources. You will see here directly to the right of your name is the "Add Sources" button. And here is where we can add up to 50 different sources that our notebook will reference. Why is this so valuable? Well, instead of having Gemini reach out into sources that you may not trust, this allows Gemini to focus on your trusted sources, whether that be documents, whether that be websites, images, almost anything that you can imagine, you can upload directly to your document. We can upload directly from our computer, we can add directly from our Drive account, or we can add websites directly. And I think this is one of the most powerful aspects of adding our sources.
So, for example, I'm going to select "Add a Website," and because I'm researching for my business, it only makes sense that I give them access to my homepage or maybe a specific landing page. So, I'm going to go and copy my website URL, and I'm going to paste it directly into this box. Now, you can add multiple websites. Maybe I also know that my subscribers really appreciated this latest video from me. So, yes, we can use YouTube videos as sources as well. You simply need to paste that link on a separate line. So, I'm going to add these two sources and select "Insert." Depending on the size of your file or the size of your document, it may take a little bit of time for it to upload and extract that information, but now it has that information directly here within my notebook. Again, you can keep adding or removing sources and you have up to 50 sources which you can add to each notebook.
So, with our sources added, with our custom instructions, and with even some previous chats here, one of the biggest benefits is that I don't have to repeat myself. Let's say I'm planning a vacation, like in this example here. I've already given it the specific information in terms of where I am wanting to travel and those specific dates. So, I don't have to tell it that again and again. For example, I'm going to ask it to create a quick high-level itinerary for this vacation using bullet points and specific dates. You'll note that I have not specified the destination or the dates themselves. No problem because it's referencing my custom sources, it's referencing my information, so it's going to know exactly what I am asking for without me having to repeat myself. Yes, I'm going on a 9-day trip between these dates in the Oregon Coast and the Puget Sound region. So, it can give me the exact itinerary, the exact information that I am looking for. Think of all of the projects that you're involved with, and that's a great way to think about notebooks is thinking of them synonymously with projects. Keeping all of those conversations and chats and source materials in one place.
Last but not least, if you want to take advantage of the full power of your notebooks in NotebookLM, you can come up here to the top right-hand corner of your screen. This will allow you to manage all of the aspects of your notebook using the full NotebookLM interface to not only manage your sources, but also use advanced studio features so you can create further content and get the most out of your sources.
Now, I'd love to hear from you next. What questions do you have about using notebooks within Gemini? Be sure to let me know in the comments down below. Thank you so much for watching and remember, you deserve to work without feeling overwhelmed.