35 ✨AI Enhanced Activity: Deep Dive into Scholarly Sources with NotebookLM
This activity will guide you through a deeper exploration of scholarly sources using NotebookLM, a Google AI tool. You’ll learn how to use NotebookLM to gain a richer understanding of your sources and develop more nuanced perspectives on your research topic.
Why NotebookLM?
While conversational AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are useful for brainstorming and generating ideas, it’s important to be mindful of ethical considerations when using them with scholarly sources. Copying and pasting full-text articles into public generative AI can violate copyright and intellectual property rights.
NotebookLM offers a solution. It’s a Google AI product that claims to “never use your personal data to train” itself, making it a more ethical choice for working with scholarly sources.
What You’ll Need:
- A Google account
- Access to your university’s library
- Three or more scholarly sources related to your chosen topic (downloaded as PDFs)
Instructions:
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Initial Source Exploration:
- Read through your three sources carefully, familiarizing yourself with their content.
- Reflect on the main themes discussed in each source.
- Consider how the sources approach similar themes in different ways.
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Answer Initial Reflection Questions:
- What are the main themes discussed in each source?
- What themes are shared by all three sources?
- How do the sources approach any of the themes similarly?
- How do the sources approach any of the themes differently?
- What insights do you gain by looking at the subject with the perspectives of each of these sources combined?
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Set Up NotebookLM:
- Go to Google NotebookLM and sign in with your Google account.
- Create a new notebook by clicking the “+ New Notebook” button.
- Upload one of your sources as a PDF.
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Generate Study Aids:
- Choose a study aid to generate, such as a study guide, briefing document, or podcast.
- Review the output and reflect on how it helps you understand the article better.
- Explore additional formats like “Help Me Understand” and “Suggest related ideas” to gain further insights.
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Repeat with Multiple Sources:
- Add your second and third sources to the notebook.
- Generate and explore content for each source individually, then with all three sources selected together.
- Compare and contrast the insights you gain from exploring the sources individually and collectively.
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Answer NotebookLM Reflection Questions:
- How does each format (study guide, podcast, etc.) help you understand the articles better?
- How do the three sources combined lead to insights and conclusions that may not be realized with only one source by itself?
- Were there insights that you discovered by using NotebookLM that you did not recognize at the beginning of this exercise?
- With the added understanding of the sources, what argument will you make in your essay?
- How will you use your sources to develop your argument?
- How will your argument be different because of these sources than it would have been without them?
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Share Your NotebookLM Project:
- When you have completed the steps above, click the share button at the top right corner of the window.
- Enter your instructor’s email address in the box for who to share with.
- Click the copy link button and submit the link to your instructor.
Important Notes:
- You will not be allowed to use the output from NotebookLM in your essay as a quote or paraphrase. It is intended to aid your understanding, not to be a source itself.
- With your added understanding from NotebookLM, return to your sources and find the passages that will help you present your argument in your essay.