Gemini Notebook

Formerly called NotebookLM. Google renamed it in July 2026. Same tool, same notebooks.

Most AI tools answer from general knowledge. Gemini Notebook does not. You give it your own documents, and it answers only from those, pointing to the exact passage it used. If your sources do not cover something, it says so instead of guessing.

That makes it the best choice at HCC when being accurate matters more than being fast.

How to sign in

Gemini Notebook comes with the same Google for Education account as Gemini. If you have signed in to one, you already have the other. Use either route.

• Through HCC single sign-on. Go to sso.hccs.edu and log in with your hccs.edu email address.
• Or go straight to the tool. Open Gemini Notebook and sign in with your hccs.edu email address.

Either way, check the account name in the top corner before you upload anything. If it shows a personal Gmail address, sign out and switch. Work done in a personal account is not covered by the HCC agreement.

Good places to start

• Upload several readings and ask a question across all of them at once.
• Upload a long report and pull out only what it says about one topic.
• Turn course readings into a study guide.
• Compare how two documents treat the same subject.
• Get oriented in a long document before reading the whole thing.

Try this: Using only the documents I uploaded, list every deadline mentioned and tell me which document each one came from.

Try this: Compare what these three sources say about placement testing. Where do they agree, and where do they disagree?

Why the citations matter

Every answer links back to the passage it came from, so you can check it in one click. This is the difference between an AI answer you have to verify from scratch and one you can confirm in a few seconds.

It still pays to look. Being grounded in your sources means it is far less likely to invent something, not that it never misreads one.

What to keep out

Uploading a document is the same as typing its contents in. Do not upload files containing student records, employee records, health information, financial data, or anything with a real person's name attached to sensitive details.

What to put into AI

Need help?

Contact the IT Service Desk.

These guidelines follow HCC Board Policy CRB(LOCAL) 101506.