For NC State Extension staff, NotebookLM is a great tool to help you quickly summarize research, create workshop materials, and share helpful information with your community. The primary benefit of NotebookLM is that each notebook remains strictly focused on your specific topic, because you provide the exact source material the AI references.
Getting Started
As an NC State employee, you have access to NotebookLM through the university's Google Workspace environment.
- Go to notebooklm.google.com and sign in using your NC State Unity ID and password.
- Create a Notebook: Click New Notebook. Think of a notebook as a private workspace for a specific project, county program, or research topic.
- Upload Your Sources: Upload your source materials. You can upload PDFs, Google Docs, copy-pasted text, website URLs, or even YouTube links.
⚠️ NC State Data Security Note: NotebookLM is approved for Green (public) and Yellow (moderately sensitive) data only. To ensure your data is fully protected by NC State’s enterprise security agreements, you must log in with your NC State account. Never upload Red or Purple tier data, such as private personal information. - Once your sources are uploaded, you can use the center chat box to ask questions, or use the Studio panel on the right to instantly generate specialized Reports for county leadership and custom Quizzes to test your workshop participants.
Practical Examples for NC State Extension
Generating Local Fact Sheets & Handouts
- The Scenario: You have a collection of lengthy academic papers on a new agricultural pest or a 50-page USDA nutrition report.
- How to use NotebookLM: Upload the research documents. Prompt the chat: "Based on these sources, write a 500-word, plain-language fact sheet for local homeowners on how to identify and manage this pest."
Creating Workshop Quizzes & Interactive Activities
- The Scenario: You are teaching a 4-H youth development class or an Extension Master Gardener workshop and want to test comprehension.
- How to use NotebookLM: Upload your lesson plan or presentation slides. Use the built-in Quiz Generator or Flashcards tool to instantly create review materials directly tied to your exact teaching content.
Sharing Notebooks with Coworkers
- Click the Share button in the top-right corner of the notebook and enter your coworker's NC State email address. You can also share with an NC State Google Group.
- Permissions: Coworkers can be invited as a Viewer (allows them to read sources and chat with the AI) or an Editor (allows them to add or delete sources and edit saved notes).
NotebookLM allows for collaboration within the university network. Because it integrates with NC State’s Google Workspace, sharing works just like sharing a Google Doc.
NotebookLM functions as an AI-powered document analysis tool. You upload your own sources — like notes, research papers and textbook chapters — for the tool to summarize and organize into an easy-to-digest format. Within NC State Extension, this allows for the processing of research papers, reports, or program manuals into more targeted information.
