Google NotebookLM helps you synthesize and understand complex information by working directly with the materials you upload. Instead of searching the open web, it turns your PDFs, web links, and notes into an interactive, citation-linked workspace you can question, summarize, and organize.
Key Features
- Add up to 50 sources per notebook (PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, and URLs)
- Automatic summaries highlight key themes and suggest questions to explore
- Ask prompts like “What are the major conclusions across these papers?” and get concise, cited answers drawn from your sources
- Save responses as notes and share notebooks for collaborative exploration
Getting Started
Go to notebooklm.google.com, login with your Pitt account, create a New Notebook, and add sources—research articles, book chapters*, policy documents, or web pages. NotebookLM builds a private, queryable knowledge base to accelerate literature reviews, briefing prep, and teaching materials.
How It Enhances Learning
NotebookLM can help you:
- Compare and contrast multiple readings at once.
- Generate study notes, outlines, mind maps, flash cards, and FAQs automatically.
- Collaborate in shared notebooks to co-develop knowledge collections.
Together, these features turn reading into a dialogue that deepens comprehension and recall.
Privacy and Limits
Uploads remain private and are not used to train Google’s AI models. Each file can be up to ~200 MB (≈500,000 words), and each notebook supports 50 sources. NotebookLM is a University-approved AI tool. It should only be used for public data, not private or regulated data, as noted in Pitt’s GenAI guidelines.
Example
The HSLS Molecular Biology Information Service (MBIS) created a sample notebook integrating guides, research papers, and workshop materials: HSLS MBIS Notebook.
While exploring, try Audio Overview for a podcast-style summary of your sources and Video Overview for a short, narrated video abstract—both grounded in the materials you upload. To go deeper, check out the LinkedIn Learning course on NotebookLM, available to all Pitt users.
*The publisher McGraw Hill prohibits using its content in any artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) technologies or products; McGraw Hill content includes e-book chapters from AccessMedicine, AccessPharmacy, AccessSurgery, and OMMBID.
~Ansuman Chattopadhyay