One of my tasks at the library is to keep our policies, procedures, and operations paperwork up to date and accessible to those who need them. Until recently, this meant a series of instructional sheets for all of our processes, along with copies of our current policies, on the intranet and in binders at our Information Desk.
In theory, having that information at your fingertips should make finding answers a breeze. In reality, flipping through a binder to find the tab or subtab that might have the answer to your question can be cumbersome and time-consuming. You can search our intranet, but the results are based only on keywords and are rarely relevant.
Until recently, that was the best I could do.
Introducing NotebookLM
The folks at Google have created a tool called NotebookLM that allows creators to feed specific information sources into an AI notebook. Those sources can be documents, presentations, website pages, audio files, and images. End users can then ask the notebook natural-language questions and receive answers with citations.
While we are using our notebook as an operational handbook, you could use it to generate insights from the sources you input. Use it to organize your thoughts, study, or spark creativity.
We are using the free version of NotebookLM, and I double-checked to ensure that NotebookLM doesn’t use our information to train its AIs. If you are using a free Gmail to create a NotebookLM, and not a workplace account, your mileage may vary. So far, the limit of 50 sources for a notebook has been plenty for our use.
Setting Up NotebookLM
Before setting up your notebook, there are a couple of points to note that may help with your planning.
- You’ll be surprised how many sources you’ll want to include. One thing that kept our number down was having a main manual in Word format that included as much of the information as possible.
- If you include a website, it will only scan the page you specify, not the whole site.
- If you update your sources, you will either need to re-sync the source (editable items shared from Google Drive) or remove and re-upload it (PDF, audio, etc.)
Uploading Sources
To start, I included our Information Desk manual, which seemed pretty complete to me. Then I realized our policy binder was separate. Thankfully, that is also a single, editable document. At this point, we’ve included two sources that have most of the info we get asked by patrons.
Then I asked who was on our Board of Trustees, and realized that wasn’t in either document. I considered adding the webpage where that information lives, but ultimately decided to save a source and add that to our Information Desk manual.
I did end up adding some of our website pages to the notebook: our accessibility information and Library of Things lists, the “How do I” page with links to how-to articles in this blog, and a webpage with guidance on service animals in public spaces. Because I’m the person who updates all but the service animal page, I am in a good position to know when to tell the notebook to find new information on those pages. That is, delete the URL and add it again.
To add a source, click Add Sources at the top of the left menu:
You can then choose to search for additional sources or upload your own:
The progress bar at the bottom shows how many sources you are using out of your allotted total.
Using Your Notebook
Once you’ve linked and uploaded your sources, you’ll see them in a list on the left. By default, all sources are checked – indicating that the chat will search all of them for your answer. You can uncheck any sources you want to exclude.
The center is your chat area. Type your questions (or prompts) at the bottom and see the answers with citations appear above.
The right column, the Studio, is there to inspire you and show actions it can perform. Suggestions include an audio overview, flashcards, an infographic, a mind map, and more!
For this example, I asked who is allowed to check out our museum passes. It responded with lots of details and included citations (numbers in circles):
If I click on one of the citation numbers, it will show me where it got the information in the actual source language:
Note that you may want to double-check anything that sounds off. Even though the answers are drawn from limited sources, the AI can still misinterpret them and make false statements.
Sharing Your Notebook
The next (optional) step would be to share your notebook. If your notebook would help other folks, like our operations manual, you can share it using the Share button in the upper right of the page:
The following sharing options are available:
- Whether the people you invite can view only or edit the notebook
- Whether invitees have access to the whole notebook or only the chat. For my purposes, sharing the whole notebook made sense. That way, users can check the citations. If you would like to keep the sources private, you should choose the “chat only” sharing option.
- You can even include a welcome message explaining what you’re sharing and why
You may want to consider releasing your notebook to a select group of people for beta testing before sharing it widely. It can be a great way to find errors and omissions before they are visible to everyone.
Keeping Your Notebook Updated
As I mentioned earlier, the sources you used to create the notebook don’t update themselves. If your document is linked from Google Drive in an editable format, like our Information Manual:
- Update the source file
- In the notebook, click on the source in the left menu
- Click the button at the top that says “Click to sync with Google Drive”
For any items not saved in Google Drive, click the icon to the left of the source name and select “remove source.” Then upload the updated item or enter the URL to add the updated source back in.
Summary
Whether you want to create a professional knowledge base, collect information for a research project, or study a subject you’ll be tested on, NotebookLM can help you leverage the power of AI organize your thoughts and gain insights.
