Choose sources for a notebook that can answer your real question

Example result.

Question: how long do customers have to return an unopened item? Answer: 30 days from delivery [Returns policy, signed off March 2026, section 1]. Not covered: items bought in a sale. Ask the customer service lead. Left out: Returns policy 2024 (superseded) and Returns policy 2026 DRAFT v4 (not signed off).

1. State one question and decide what makes a source count

Write the one question the notebook should answer. Then decide what makes a source authoritative for it: a signed-off current policy, say, rather than an undated slide deck about it.

List each candidate with its title, version or date, owner, status and the relevant section, and open each one. A recent filename doesn’t mean it’s the one in force, and a document marked draft stays a draft in the answer.

Why this works: the notebook can only be as right as the sources you select. Choosing them is the judgement; the AI doesn’t make it for you.

What you should see: a short list with one source marked as the authority for this question.

2. Add the smallest useful set and select it

Open the notebook and select Add sources on the left to add the material. Then, in the Source panel, select only the sources for this question. Give them titles you can tell apart. Leave a superseded version unselected unless the question is deliberately a comparison.

Sources imported from Google Drive sync automatically every few minutes; uploaded files and pasted text are copies of what you added.

Answer this question: [question]. Use only the selected sources: [source names and versions].
First say which source supports the current rule and which parts of the question it doesn't cover. Then give the answer with source references.
Treat draft or superseded material as such. Don't add general knowledge or turn a missing detail into a rule.

[question] is the one from step 1; [source names and versions] are the titles you selected.

Why this works: naming the sources in the prompt as well as selecting them makes it obvious in the answer which one was used.

What you should see: an answer that names its source first and lists what isn’t covered.

3. Check the cited passage and the gaps

Open each important citation and read the surrounding text: conditions and exceptions often sit in a different paragraph from the headline rule. Confirm the cited source is the version you meant.

If the sources say nothing about something the next action depends on, the answer should say so rather than filling it from general practice. Ask the document owner.

Why this works: a citation to the right document can still point at the wrong paragraph, and a gap is only useful once it’s written down.

What you should see: every point traced to the intended source, and the gaps listed with someone to ask.

Check the result

• The cited source is the version you chose as the authority.
• No draft or superseded file is cited as the current rule.
• Conditions and exceptions next to the cited passage survived.
• Anything the sources don’t cover is listed, not answered.

The usual failure: the answer comes from the newest-looking file, which turns out to be a draft. Its filename has the latest date, so it feels current. Spot it by checking the status line of whatever the citation points to.

The answer used [draft or superseded source] for the current rule. I've now selected only [current source]. Answer the same question again from that source, keeping [unanswered point] unresolved. Cite the passage and explain any difference from the earlier answer.

[unanswered point] is anything the current source doesn’t cover.

Fictional example. A customer service team lead adds three files to a notebook and asks how long customers have to return an unopened item.

Returns policy 2024.pdf (status: superseded March 2026)
  Section 1: unopened items may be returned within 14 days of delivery.
Returns policy - signed off March 2026.pdf (status: current)
  Section 1: unopened items may be returned within 30 days of delivery.
Returns policy 2026 DRAFT v4.docx (last modified 2 October 2026; status: draft, not signed off)
  Proposal: extend the window to 45 days.
None of the three mentions items bought in a sale.

With all three selected, the first answer read: “Customers can return unopened items within 45 days [Returns policy 2026 DRAFT v4].” She deselected the draft and the 2024 file and used the repair prompt with “items bought in a sale” as the unanswered point. The answer became the example result at the top: 30 days, from the March 2026 policy, with sale items not covered.

• The draft won because it was newest. The model had no way to know “DRAFT v4” mattered more than “2 October”.
• Deselecting fixed the source; the prompt fixed the explanation. The second answer noted the change from 45 to 30 days and why.
• “Not covered” sent her to a person. A sale-item return is a real question, and the answer to it isn’t in any of the three files.

Task kit for this job: Download (ZIP) · Reusable instructions

Go deeper

Question:
Selected source, title and version:
Why it counts (owner, sign-off, date):
Relevant section:
Synced from Drive, or a copy (and when added):
Excluded or historical sources:
Gaps and who can answer them:

Sources

• Gemini Notebook Help: Add sources to a notebook
• Google: NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook