How to Study with NotebookLM: Sources, Practice, and Review

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) creates a study assistant from the documents you choose. Unlike asking a general AI, you get answers grounded in your actual course materials with citations pointing back to the source. Tools like fenbs extend this by keeping your study plan, weak-topic notes, and session progress outside the notebook, so each study session can continue from where the last one ended.

Set up a focused study notebook

Create one notebook per module or exam topic rather than one per course. A focused notebook produces more specific answers. Add your course sources: lecture slides, assigned readings, past exam papers, textbook chapters.

The tool supports PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube video URLs, web pages, and audio files. Lecture recordings uploaded as audio files or linked as YouTube videos can be added as sources if they are available in those formats.

Once you add sources, the Notebook guide panel offers several generated formats. For studying, start with the study guide. Read it quickly — it is an overview, not a substitute for the actual material — and use it to identify the key areas to work through.

Build understanding with practice questions

The highest-value use of Gemini Notebook for studying is active recall: writing a question from memory and checking the answer against the sources.

1. Without looking at the notebook, write a question you expect on the exam or in an assignment.
2. Ask that question in the notebook chat.
3. Read the answer and the citations.
4. Compare the answer to what you expected. Where did you differ?
5. If you were wrong or incomplete, open the cited source and read the passage in full.
6. Note the gap as a weak topic to revisit.

You can also ask the notebook to generate practice questions: "Give me five exam-style questions on [topic] based on these sources." Write out your answers before checking the notebook's. The act of writing tests recall; simply reading questions and answers tests recognition, which is easier but less durable.

Use the FAQ and briefing doc for targeted review

The FAQ format pulls common questions and answers from your sources. This is useful close to an exam: the questions tend to reflect what the material emphasizes. Read each FAQ answer and ask yourself whether you could have produced it without the notebook.

The briefing doc is denser. Use it for a fast review before an exam when you cannot reread all sources. Again, it is a summary and carries all the risks of summaries: simplified language, merged ideas, occasional misreading. Verify any claim that matters before writing it in an exam.

Identify and address weak topics

Keep a running list of topics where your recall was wrong or incomplete. Ask the notebook follow-up questions on those topics specifically. "Explain [concept] using only these sources" forces a source-grounded explanation rather than a general one.

For topics that keep showing up as weak, go back to the source material directly. Sometimes the source is clear on a topic but the summary is not — reading the passage in full is more useful than asking more notebook questions.

How to keep your study context with fenbs

Gemini Notebook does not track which topics you found hard, which you have covered, or where you left off between study sessions. Keeping that record in fenbs gives any AI assistant you use — in any session — the current state of your study plan.

1. Create a free account and add a project for your exam or course module.
2. Create a task for each topic. Move it to In Progress when you start and to Completed when you can answer questions reliably.
3. Write a lesson for each weak topic: what you got wrong, what the correct answer was, what to do next time.
4. Before each study session, update "Where we left off" with which topics are covered and which need work.
5. Connect a supported AI assistant from Integrations. It reads the study plan and lessons at the start of each session, so time goes to study rather than reconstruction.

Using the Audio Overview for study

The Audio Overview feature generates a two-host AI conversation about your uploaded sources. For study, this is useful as a passive review: listen while commuting or doing other tasks to get a broad orientation on the material. Do not rely on it for precision detail — it interprets and condenses the sources rather than reading them verbatim.

Use it as a complement to active recall practice, not a replacement. A good workflow is to listen to the Audio Overview first to identify the main topics, then use the chat to test yourself on specific questions before an exam.

When Gemini Notebook is not enough on its own

The tool works well when your course materials are in document form. For courses that depend heavily on worked examples, lab practice, or live problem-solving, the documents alone may not give the notebook enough to work from. Supplement with your own worked solutions or notes from class.

For a broader study workflow guide, see NotebookLM for studying. For a look at how this compares with other AI study tools, see NotebookLM alternatives.