Pre-Workshop Activities

What you’ll do in the workshop

During the live session, you will:

  • Build a NotebookLM notebook from your own sources (PDFs, Docs, webpages, etc.)
  • Generate summaries, study guides, and brainstorming prompts grounded in those sources
  • Explore Studio tools such as Audio Overview, Video Overview, Reports, Mind Maps, Flashcards, and Quizzes
  • Practice verifying AI-generated content by checking citations against the original documents

By the end, you should have at least one “real” notebook you can keep using for your studies or work.

What to bring

To get the most out of the workshop, please bring:

  • A laptop (recommended for full NotebookLM features)
  • A Google account you can sign in with
  • 2–3 documents you can safely upload, such as:
    • A course reading (PDF)
    • An assignment brief or project description
    • A publicly accessible article or webpage
  • (Optional) Headphones, if you want to listen to Audio Overviews without disturbing others

If you don’t have your own documents, sample materials will be provided.

Pre-Workshop Videos & Activities

This workshop consists of a small amount of instruction followed by hands-on activities. To be ready to jump straight into NotebookLM, please:

  1. As a researcher it is very important that you carefully review UVic’s guidance on generative AI. Please read: UVic and Tri-Agency guidance on the use of AI in research development and review.
  2. Watch at least one short GenAI overview:
  1. (Optional) Log in once to NotebookLM so your account is ready.

During the workshop, we may also mention other GenAI tools, including:

NEXT STEP: Introduction to Hands-On Activities