Gemini Notebook adds a free textbook catalog for student study
Google has added hundreds of free textbooks to Gemini Notebook for students in India and the United States. Books from S Chand Publishing, OpenStax and Open Textbook Library can be selected directly as notebook sources. The service can generate study materials and answer questions with references to the selected book, removing the need to find and upload each file separately.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
Textbooks can be added directly as sources
Google has added a free textbook catalog to Gemini Notebook, its AI research and study workspace, for students in India and the United States. Hundreds of books from S Chand Publishing, OpenStax and Open Textbook Library can be selected inside the service. S Chand is a New Delhi-based school and higher-education publisher; the other two providers offer open educational resources. The textbook addition follows Google’s October 29 announcement, with reporting on October 30 describing its student uses.[1], [2]
Within an open notebook, users select Add sources and then Textbooks. A search field finds a particular title, while filters narrow the catalog by subject and education level. A selected book becomes reference material for the notebook’s existing tools. This route removes the separate steps of locating a book on another site, downloading a copy and uploading the file manually before beginning to work with it.[1], [2]
Answers link back to passages in the chosen book
Once added, the textbook provides the material for questions and answers grounded in its contents. Inline citations and direct links point to the relevant passage, giving students a route back to the book supporting a response. The same material can be turned into study guides, practice quizzes and flashcards. Examples shown by Google include school science, social sciences and English texts from S Chand, alongside university-level physics, calculus and biology books from OpenStax. Google has not provided a complete list of the available Indian titles.[1], [2]
Among the S Chand covers shown by Google are history and civics books for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education curriculum, alongside the other school subjects. Coverage of further curricula and regional-language textbooks remains unsettled. Google has also faced allegations from authors and publishers over the use of Google Play Books titles to train AI.[1], [2]
Catalog extends an earlier ebook connection
The catalog extends Expert Intelligence, Google’s initiative for bringing trusted sources into its AI products. That initiative was introduced the previous month with support for eligible ebooks already purchased through Google Play Books. The textbook catalog supplies a separate, free route to adding study sources from the listed providers. Gemini Notebook was previously called NotebookLM. The rollout has begun in India and the United States, and Google has announced no expansion to other regions. Questions about additional Indian curriculum coverage and regional-language textbooks remain open.[1], [2]
