Getting Started with Gemini Notebook

This quick-reference guide helps Rice Faculty, Students, and Staff rapidly understand Gemini Notebook by providing a high-level summary, key features, access instructions, official resources, and critical usage restrictions.

Note: Gemini Notebook (Basic) is available to Rice Faculty, Students, and Staff. Gemini Notebook (Pro) is currently available only to Faculty and Staff.

  

https://notebook.google.com

Gemini Notebook

Google Gemini Notebook (powered by NotebookLM) is an AI-powered personalized research, study, and thinking assistant available to university faculty, staff, and students. Integrated within the institutional Google Workspace domain, Gemini Notebook allows you to upload your own sources such as PDFs, Google Docs, Slides, web links, YouTube transcripts, and audio recordings to generate instant summaries, grounded answers, study guides, outlines, and synthesized audio overviews.

Unlike general conversational AI chatbots, Gemini Notebook operates using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Responses are grounded strictly in the source materials you upload, complete with in-line citations pointing directly to your reference files. All conversations and source documents within the university workspace remain strictly private and protected under enterprise-grade data agreements.

Key Features

Key Features

  • Source-Grounded Insights: Answers queries using only your uploaded source documents to prevent hallucinations and maintain research integrity.

  • Multimodal Uploads: Imports Google Docs, Google Slides, PDFs, text files, web URLs, YouTube transcripts, and audio recordings.

  • Audio Overviews & Deep Dives: Generates dynamic, AI-hosted audio discussions and podcasts based directly on your notes and research materials.

  • Automatic In-Line Citations: Every response includes direct citations and clickable passage links back to the original source text.

  • Study & Output Suite: Instantly converts raw sources into structured study guides, outlines, FAQs, timelines, briefing documents, and data tables.

Collaborate, Synthesize, and Present: All with Gemini Notebook

  1. Audio Overviews (Podcasts & Deep Dives): Gemini Notebook can synthesize your uploaded lecture notes, research papers, or syllabus documents into an engaging, multi-speaker audio conversation. Pro users can customize the conversational style, tone, and focus areas for tailored revision audio on the go. 

  2. Collaborative Research Notebooks: Share notebooks directly with institutional colleagues or study groups. In Gemini Notebook Pro, owners can share notebooks in "Chat-only" viewer mode, allowing collaborators to interact with and query the AI knowledge base without modifying or deleting the underlying source files.

  3. Automated Study Tools & Outline Generators: Convert dozens of research PDFs or semester notes into a cohesive study guide, table of contents, timeline of events, or comparative matrix with a single click. All generated outputs link back directly to specific source paragraphs for quick citation verification.

Important Data Notice: Google Gemini Notebook is not approved for use with Protected Health Information (PHI) or HIPAA-regulated data unless explicitly authorized. Do not enter or upload PHI in Gemini Notebook.

Eligibility and Access

Students

Students are eligible for Gemini Notebook (Basic) access at no cost through Rice’s institutional Google Workspace account.  Access is automatically granted upon signing in with university credentials.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff automatically receive Gemini Notebook (Basic) access. For higher notebook capacity, expanded source limits, higher daily interaction quotas, and advanced audio generation controls, Faculty and Staff are eligible to request or subscribe to Gemini Notebook (Pro).

Subscription Tiers

Tier

Availability

Best For

Key Features & Quota
Gemini Notebook Basic Students, Faculty, Staff Individual course studying, literature reviews, smaller research projects. 

• Up to 100 Notebooks per account

• Up to 50 Sources per notebook

• 500,000 words limit per source

• Standard daily chat & audio quotas
Gemini Notebook Pro  Faculty & Staff Only Major institutional research, multi-year literature synthesis, high-volume departmental workflows. 

• Up to 500 Notebooks per account

• Up to 300 Sources per notebook

• 500,000 words limit per source

• 500 daily chat queries & 20 daily Audio Overviews

• Custom chat personalities & "Chat-only" sharing modes

Requesting Access

While Gemini Notebook (Basic) is automatically provisioned for all eligible students, faculty, and staff, Gemini Notebook (Pro) requires an assigned license for Faculty and Staff.

Interested in upgrading to Gemini Notebook Pro?

Faculty and staff can request a Gemini Pro license by submitting a ticket to the TS&S Service Desk help@rice.edu

Using Gemini Notebook Securely and Restrictions for Use

To verify that you are using the university-protected Google Gemini Notebook instance, look for the Data Protection / Enterprise badge when signed in:

  1. Navigate to https://notebook.google.com in your browser.

  2. Check the top-right or lower-left corner to confirm you are signed in with your official Rice university email account (user@rice.edu).

  3. You will see a clear blue shield icon with the Google "G" logo or a lock emblem confirming active data protection. The lock/shield icon next to the prompt in a Gemini AI chat indicates that your conversation has enterprise-grade data protections.

Note: Only notebooks created while logged in with your official institutional account are protected under the enterprise data protection agreement. Personal Google accounts (@gmail.com) do not share these enterprise privacy guarantees.

AI Responsible Use Policies

Review the following guidelines for safe and ethical AI usage:

Restrictions for Use

  • Academic & Institutional Use Only: University Gemini Notebook accounts are provided strictly for academic teaching, coursework, research, and institutional administration. Personal commercial usage is prohibited.

  • Grounding Boundary: Gemini Notebook will only answer based on uploaded material. Do not rely on it as a general search engine for facts outside your uploaded document set.

  • Sensitive Data Restrictions: Google Gemini is not approved for use with HIPAA-regulated data (PHI). Always follow institutional compliance guidelines when working with sensitive information. If you are unsure whether your data contains regulated content, consult the appropriate office below:

HIPAA / Health Data Office: Information Security Office security@rice.edu
Institutional Registrar (FERPA): Office of the Registrar ferpa@rice.edu
Information Security Office (PII/Sensitive Data): Information Security Office security@rice.edu
Ethics, Compliance and Enterprise Risk: compliance matrix

Resources and Support

For New Users

Faculty and staff can request a Gemini Pro license by submitting a ticket to the TS&S Service Desk

Once your account or license is configured, follow these steps to access Gemini Notebook using your institutional single sign-on (SSO):

  1. Receive Confirmation Email: You will receive a welcome/activation email from IT Services introducing the tool.

  2. Review the AI Responsible Use Policies: Refer to Section "Using Gemini Notebook Securely and Restrictions for Use" 

  3. Access Gemini Notebook: Navigate to notebook.google.com (or notebook.gemini.google.com).

  4. Enter University Email: Type your full institutional email address (@university.edu) and click Continue.

  5. Authenticate via Single Sign-On (SSO): Complete authentication on your institutional login page with your university credentials and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

  6. Verify Security Badge: Once logged in, confirm that your university account is active in the top-right corner and that enterprise data protections are indicated.

  7. Create Your First Notebook: Click New Notebook, upload your first PDF, Google Doc, or link, and begin asking questions grounded in your documents.

Resources for Current Users

Google-Provided Support & Learning

TS&S Teaching & Learning Team

Rice University Tech Support

The TS&S Service Desk is your central contact for IT support and troubleshooting, and our goal is to provide you with an excellent service experience!

We offer both in-person and remote support services, and all requests are associated with a support ticket. 

*After-hours support available for urgent issues, please call.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Question

Answer

1. Is this workspace approved for use with HIPAA & FERPA data?

  • HIPAA (PHI): Not approved. Do not enter or upload Protected Health Information into Gemini.

  • FERPA (Student Records): Approved under the enterprise Google Workspace agreement, provided standard data handling guidelines are followed.

2. Does the university monitor my notebooks or uploaded files?

Not routinely. Your uploaded sources, notes, and chat interactions are private to your individual account. System usage metrics and metadata may be audited by IT administrators strictly for security, compliance, and license management.

3. Does Gemini Notebook support text, images, and code in one session?

Gemini Notebook accepts text-based sources (PDFs, Docs, Slides, web pages, code transcripts). While it extracts text and data structures from uploaded files, non-text visual elements (like raw image assets) are generally converted to textual descriptions or transcribed during source processing.

4. How do I import saved external chat conversations (e.g., ChatGPT) into Gemini Notebook?

Because Gemini Notebook is document-grounded, you can import past chat history from other tools as reference sources:

  • Option 1: Add as a Source File: Save or export your past chat history as a PDF or Google Doc, click Add Source in your notebook, and upload the file. Gemini Notebook will summarize or reference the past conversation.

  • Option 2: Add to a Project Notebook (Recommended): Create a dedicated notebook for your specific topic, upload past exported chat PDFs alongside your primary research papers, and interact with all context combined in one space.

5. Is my data used to train Google’s AI models?

No. Under the university’s Google Workspace enterprise terms, prompts, responses, and uploaded documents stay within your domain and are not used to train Google’s foundation models or shared with outside entities.

6. Can I use the Gemini Notebook mobile app or web browser securely? 

Yes. Access Gemini Notebook via any secure mobile or desktop web browser (notebooklm.google.com) while logged into your university email account. Always verify that your university institutional profile is active in the account switcher.

7. Can I use Gemini Notebook securely in a web browser?

Yes. Simply navigate to notebooklm.google.com, log in with your institutional single sign-on (SSO), and ensure your institutional domain is selected. 

8. Will my data be private? 

Yes. Notebooks are private by default and accessible only to you unless you explicitly choose to share a notebook with colleagues within your institutional domain.

9. When would I lose access to Gemini Notebook? 

Access may be revoked or restricted if you leave the university, lose active student/employee status, violate the Acceptable Use Policy, or if your department cancels a assigned Pro license allocation.

10. What features are not available within Gemini Notebook compared to general Gemini Chat?

Gemini Notebook is explicitly a grounded research tool. Unlike standard Gemini Chat, it does not browse the open web to answer queries outside of your uploaded documents, nor does it write ungrounded creative fiction unless instructed to base it on your provided files.

11. How long does Gemini retain chat history?

Enterprise chat history retention is set by institutional policy. By default, chat history is retained for 18 months unless manually cleared by the user or modified by administrative policy.

12. Can Gemini Notebook access current web information? 

Gemini Notebook does not perform broad, ungrounded web searches during chat sessions. However, you can paste specific web URLs or YouTube links directly as sources, and Gemini Notebook will fetch and ingest their content into your notebook's knowledge base. 

13. How long does Gemini Notebook retain chat history and uploaded files? 

Your notebooks, uploaded sources, generated notes, and chat histories persist indefinitely within your account until you manually delete them or until your institutional account is decommissioned according to university retention policies.

14. What happens if I already have a personal Google/NotebookLM account? 

Your university Gemini Notebook account operates entirely separate from any personal Google Account (@gmail.com). Notebooks created under your university account cannot be accessed from a personal account, and personal notebooks do not share enterprise data protections.

15. How can I learn more about my usage against my quota? 

In Gemini Notebook, click your Account Profile icon or Settings to view your current plan (Basic or Pro), then reference the subscription tier section in this article to confirm your quotas.  Within a Gemini Notebook chat window you will see how many sources you have uploaded as well as your upper limit. Ex: 48 / 300.

Note: Gemini Notebook (Basic) is available to Rice Faculty, Students, and Staff. Gemini Notebook (Pro) is currently available only to Faculty and Staff.

To the top


Keywords:
Gemini Notebook, NotebookLM, Notebook LM
Doc ID:
164435
Owned by:
Elisa C. in Rice U
Created:
2026-09-24
Updated:
2026-09-25
Sites:
Rice University