Overview

NotebookLM is an AI-powered tool built with Google's Gemini models that provides insights from the sources you provide. You can upload PDFs, YouTube videos and audio files, Google Docs, Google Slides, and website URLs to ground NotebookLM, which will then summarize and make interesting connections between the topics it discovers in these sources.

NotebookLM Enterprise is a highly compliant, enterprise-ready form of NotebookLM. It includes administrative, enterprise-grade security, and compliance features. With NotebookLM Enterprise, your data is always within your Google Cloud project and can't be shared externally.

In this lab, you'll learn how to use NotebookLM Enterprise to create a study guide for the from specific sources and related courses.

Note: The version of NotebookLM used in this lab is NotebookLM for Enterprise. It might differ in the set of features in the personal version of NotebookLM. You can use the personal version outside of this lab with your own Google account to explore those features. For more information, view the documentation on the differences between NotebookLM and NotebookLM Enterprise.

Objectives

In this lab, you perform the following tasks:

• Create a notebook using NotebookLM Enterprise.
• Provide relevant source material to create a study guide for the .
• Use studio tools in NotebookLM Enterprise to enhance your learning experience and prepare for the exam.
• Use NotebookLM's guide feature to interact with NotebookLM and further refine its responses.

Setup

For each lab, you get a new Google Cloud project and set of resources for a fixed time at no cost.

1. Sign in to Google Skills using an incognito window.

2. Note the lab's access time (for example, 1:15:00), and make sure you can finish within that time.
   There is no pause feature. You can restart if needed, but you have to start at the beginning.

3. When ready, click Start lab.

4. Note your lab credentials (Username and Password). You will use them to sign in to the Google Cloud Console.

5. Click Open Google Console.

6. Click Use another account and copy/paste credentials for this lab into the prompts.
   If you use other credentials, you'll receive errors or incur charges.

7. Accept the terms and skip the recovery resource page.

Task 1. Set up NotebookLM for Enterprise

In this task, you enable NotebookLM for Enterprise for your Google account and project.

1. Sign in to the Google Cloud console with your lab credentials.

2. In the console search bar, type NotebookLM.

3. In the search results, click NotebookLM for Enterprise.

4. Click Enable NotebookLM for Enterprise.

5. To configure NotebookLM for Enterprise, for Location type, select Multi-region, and then select .

6. For Identity settings, select Google identity provider.

7. Leave the remaining settings as their defaults, and click Save.

8. To open your NotebookLM instance using the link, click Open.

   You are now in NotebookLM for Enterprise, where you can start creating your notebooks.

To verify the objective, click Check my progress. Configure NotebookLM for Enterprise.

Task 2. Create a notebook

In this task, you create a notebook with specific sources to generate a study guide for the .

Create a new notebook

• To create a new notebook in your NotebookLM instance, click Create a new notebook.

Identify and add sources

Sources such as PDF documents and website URLs act as the foundational trusted knowledge base for your notebook. They are static copies that ground NotebookLM and are used to answer your questions or complete requests.

To create our study guide, we've identified two valuable sources: the guide and the information about the courses in . To create our notebook, we'll use these sources in the following steps.

1. In the Add sources dialog, in the Link section, click Website.

2. Copy and paste the URL to the exam guide:

   {{{project_0.startup_script.exam_guide_url|exam_guide_url|disablehighlight}}}

3. On a new line, copy and paste the URL to the PDF document that contains information about the courses in the learning path:

   {{{project_0.startup_script.learning_path_courses_url|learning_path_courses_url|disablehighlight}}}

   The PDF was pre-created for this lab and contains information about the courses in the .

4. Click Insert.

   Wait for the sources to be ingested.

   Note:

   If any PDF displays the message “Error processing source, try again!”, follow the steps below:

   1. Remove the PDF from the Sources field. Use the 3-dots menu for the source, then click Remove source.
   2. Click Add.
   3. In the Link section, select Website.
   4. Paste the same URL again.
   5. Click Insert to add the source.

5. To see which courses are included in the PDF, in the Sources pane, click the PDF URL. The pane expands to display the source contents.

   Combining the information from the PDF and the exam guide, you'll prompt NotebookLM to create the study guide in the next task.

6. To revert to the original Source pane view, click Close source view ().

7. Once created, your notebook is automatically renamed. To update the name, click the name in the site banner and change it to:

   {{{project_0.startup_script.exam_name|exam}}} study guide

   You're now ready to use the notebook to generate the study guide. As you progress through the lab, you'll add more sources to the notebook to augment the study guide learning material.

To verify the objective, click Check my progress. Create a notebook in NotebookLM.

Task 3. Generate the study guide

The next task in the process to generate the study guide is to write prompts and provide them to NotebookLM. You can prompt NotebookLM with different prompts depending on what you would like to create.

Prompt NotebookLM to generate a study guide

1. To generate a study guide, in the NotebookLM chat pane, type the prompt:

   Use the {{{project_0.startup_script.exam_name|exam}}} guide and the information from the {{{project_0.startup_script.learning_path_name|learning_path}}} PDF document to create a study guide for the certification exam. For each topic listed in the exam guide, provide the course and module names from the learning path document where I can study about that topic. In the response, link the course name using the course URL from the learning path document.

2. Click Send ().

   View the response from NotebookLM. For each section in the exam guide, the response contains the relevant course and module names where the topics in the section are covered.

3. To save the response to a note in the notebook, click Save to note.

4. After the note is saved, click the note to view its contents.

   The note contains the response from the prompt and is more readable than the original response. For each section in the exam guide, and for each topic in that section, the note contains the course and module where you can learn about that topic.

Find labs-based courses for practice

Included in the learning path are a set of lab-based courses that you can take to practice certain topics and earn a skills badge. Let's ask NotebookLM to compile a list of these courses for some of the topics on the exam guide.

1. In the NotebookLM chat pane, type the prompt:

   I'd like to get hands-on experience with some of the topics on the exam guide. Provide a list of lab-based courses I can take to achieve this. Provide a mapping of the topics in the exam guide that are covered in the specific labs, and link the course name using the course URL from the learning path document.

2. Click Send ().

   View the response from NotebookLM that contains the relevant lab-based course names where the topics in the section of the exam guide are covered.

3. To save the response to a note in the notebook, click Save to note.

   After the note is saved, you can click to open it and optionally review the content of the lab-based courses (skill badges).

   Note: In the response generated from this and the previous subtask, NotebookLM sometimes does not preserve the course links in the output but includes them as plain text.

Discover additional sources

Let's augment our notebook with additional sources, so you can learn more about specific topics.

We'll use NotebookLM's Discover Sources feature to find additional sources on one of the topics on the exam guide. This feature returns a curated collection of relevant sources from the web based on the topic you are interested in. You can then add those sources to your notebook.

1. In NotebookLM, in the Sources pane, click Discover.

2. In the Discover Sources dialog, type:

   Creating and managing service accounts in Google Cloud. Only discover sources from Google Cloud documentation.

   Creating and managing service accounts is a topic in section 1.1 of the exam guide.

3. Click Submit.

   NotebookLM discovers and lists multiple sources. You can choose all of them or select specific sources. For the purpose of this lab, we'll only use sources from the Google Cloud documentation.

   Note: Due to the variability in the underlying model response, you might see a slightly different list of sources for this topic.

4. Click Import.

   The sources are now added to the list of sources for the notebook.

5. In the Sources pane, disable the PDF source file.

6. Using the exam guide and documentation sources you just added, we'll now augment our study guide with additional information on service accounts. In the Chat pane, type:

   Create a list of topics on service accounts that are relevant for the exam.

7. NotebookLM generates a list of relevant topics. To save this information on the topic, click Save to note.

8. To review the note content, click the note.

   You can repeat the steps above for other topics that you are interested in learning more about.

Knowledge check

To verify the objective, click Check my progress. Generate the study guide.

Task 4. Create study aids with Studio

In this task, you interact with some of the tools that NotebookLM provides in the Studio to enhance your learning experience.

Use a mind map

Mind maps in NotebookLM visually summarize your uploaded sources, showing main topics and related ideas as a branching diagram. Let's generate a mind map using the two original sources: the certification exam guide and the learning path courses PDF.

1. In the Sources panel in NotebookLM, disable all the sources, then select the guide and the PDF.

2. In the Studio panel, click Mind Map.

3. Wait till the mind map is generated, then click to open it.

   If needed, zoom out to view the entire map. View the top-level set of branches that are generated. This gives a clear overview of each section and what they include.

4. Click the arrow next to one of the items in the mind map, for example Exam Guide Topics. The item expands to display the sections in the exam guide.

5. Then, click the arrow next to one of its child sections, for example Optimizing Performance & Cost, which is Section 5 in the exam guide.

6. To expand this section, click the arrow next to one its child sections, for example, Collecting Performance Information, which is Section 5.1 in the exam guide.

7. Click the first topic in this section, for example, Application Performance Monitoring. This results in an auto-generated prompt that is submitted to NotebookLM.

   Note: NotebookLM might abbreviate the content in the mind map UI to make it easily readable. Also, because the exact content of the mind map is variable, you might see slightly different section names.

8. View the response that contains information on this topic from the notebook's sources, and how it is related to other concepts in the exam guide and the courses in the learning path.

   This helps you structure your preparation for the exam and allows you to focus on the relevant topics. You can optionally save the response as another note in your notebook for further reference.

9. Similarly expand the other top-level and child sections to view information about the courses and skill badges that are included in the learning path.

Generate a report

One of NotebookLM’s most popular features is the ability to generate reports in different formats, such as briefing docs, FAQs, and study guides, from your sources. A report provides a concise view of the content from your sources and enables you to quickly gain insights from that content.

Let's generate a report on the topic: Security of CI/CD tooling. This is one of the topics in section 1.3 of the exam guide.

1. In the Sources panel in NotebookLM, click Add.

2. Click Website, and paste the URL:

   https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/devsecops-and-cicd-using-google-cloud-built-in-services

   This is a blog post on building a secure CI/CD pipeline using Google Cloud services.

3. Click Insert.

4. In the Sources panel, disable all the other sources. Ensure that the blog post source added in the previous step is selected.

5. In the Studio panel, click on the icon to close the mind map view. Select Reports. Then, click FAQ.

6. Wait until the report is generated. Then click to open it.

   NotebookLM generates a FAQ report that contains multiple questions and explanations for each question. You can use this report to learn more about the topic or use it to refresh your learning after reading the original blog post.

7. The Reports tool also provides a study guide format that generates a concise view of the content in your sources and includes a short-answer quiz and essay questions.

   To try this out, select the original exam guide and learning path courses PDF and generate the report.

Create an audio overview (optional)

Audio overviews are deep-dive discussions between AI hosts that provide in-depth summaries of the key topics in your uploaded sources. These overviews are designed to be an objective reflection of your source content rather than subjective opinions from the AI hosts.

Note: Generating audio overviews takes a few minutes. You can skip this subtask and go to the next task in the lab.

1. Ensure that only the previously added sources on service accounts are selected.

2. In the Studio panel, for Audio Overview, select the three-dots menu, and click Customize.

3. To tailor the length of the audio, select Shorter.

4. To focus and limit the duration of the discussion, type:

   How can service accounts be used with Workload Identity Federation? Limit the discussion to approximately two minutes.

5. Click Generate.

   It will take a few minutes to generate the audio, so we'll review it later. For now, continue to the next task in the lab.

Create a video overview (optional)

Video overviews transform the sources in your notebook into a video of AI-narrated slides, pulling images, diagrams, quotes, and numbers from your documents. They distill complex information into clear, digestible content, providing a comprehensive and engaging visual format of your material.

Note: Generating video overviews takes a few minutes. You can skip this subtask and go to the next task in the lab.

1. Ensure that only the sources on service accounts are selected.

2. In the Studio panel, for Video Overview, select the three-dots menu, and click Customize.

3. To choose the topic of the video, type:

   Explain how to use service accounts securely.

4. Click Generate.

   It will take a few minutes to generate the video, so we'll review it later. For now, continue to the next task in the lab.

Review the generated audio and video (optional)

Skip this subtask if you previously skipped creating the audio or video in the previous subtasks.

1. Confirm that the audio was generated successfully. You might need to refresh the browser tab to update the NotebookLM UI.

2. To listen to the discussion of the topic, play the audio.

3. Confirm that the video was generated successfully. You might need to refresh the browser tab to update the NotebookLM UI.

4. To get a graphic explanation of the topic, play the video.

Knowledge check

To verify the objective, click Check my progress. Use NotebookLM studio tools.

Task 5. Use NotebookLM as a learning guide

You can configure the chat feature in NotebookLM to function as a learning guide. This configuration encourages user participation with questions. So, instead of just giving answers, NotebookLM helps you break down problems step-by-step. It adapts explanations to your needs so you can build a deeper understanding of the subject.

Configure NotebookLM chat

1. In the NotebookLM UI, in the chat pane, click Configure notebook ().

2. To define your conversational style, click Guide.

3. Leave the response length as Default, and click Save.

Prompt NotebookLM

Let's say you would like to study a specific topic from the certification exam guide. For example, Managing Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters across an enterprise from section 1.4 Managing multiple environments (e.g., staging, production).

1. To enable NotebookLM to provide explanations about Google Cloud's products and services, add the documentation as a source. In the sources pane, click Add.

2. Click Website, and copy and paste the Google Cloud documentation link:

   https://docs.cloud.google.com/docs

3. Click Insert.

4. In the Sources pane, disable all sources except the Google Cloud documentation source.

5. In the Chat pane, type the prompt:

   Where can I learn about managing Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters across an enterprise?

Analyze the response

1. The response from NotebookLM cites multiple areas and products from the documentation. To view more details, hover over one of the reference numbers cited for any of these areas.

   Note: The links in the dialog that opens on hover will only point to the top-level page of the Google Cloud documentation. To learn more about those topics, you can then navigate to them in your browser starting from the top-level documentation page.

2. In the response, NotebookLM also asks if you would like to get more information about related products and tools. You can interact with NotebookLM with a prompt such as:

   Provide more details on GKE attached clusters.

   NotebookLM distills the information from the source and presents it in a manner that is easy to consume. Again, references are cited with links to the relevant documentation that you can navigate to in a separate browser tab.

   You can continue interacting with NotebookLM using the suggested questions from the response. You can also add relevant Google product documentation website URLs as sources to further refine NotebookLM's responses.

To verify the objective, click Check my progress. Use NotebookLM as a learning guide.

End your lab

When you have completed your lab, click End Lab. Google Skills removes the resources you’ve used and cleans the account for you.

You will be given an opportunity to rate the lab experience. Select the applicable number of stars, type a comment, and then click Submit.

The number of stars indicates the following:

• 1 star = Very dissatisfied
• 2 stars = Dissatisfied
• 3 stars = Neutral
• 4 stars = Satisfied
• 5 stars = Very satisfied

You can close the dialog box if you don't want to provide feedback.

For feedback, suggestions, or corrections, please use the Support tab.

Congratulations

In this lab, you learned how to:

• Create a notebook using NotebookLM for Enterprise.
• Provide relevant source material to create a study guide.
• Use studio tools in NotebookLM for Enterprise to enhance your learning experience and prepare for the .
• Use NotebookLM's guide feature to interact with NotebookLM and further refine its responses.

Next steps/learn more

• Visit Google's Codelabs to practice using various Google products and services.
• Take the Unlock Insights with NotebookLM course to learn more about NotebookLM.

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