Triage your sources before you synthesise
WorkflowsGoes in: Chat
Step one of any multi-source project. Run this before asking for a synthesis and it tells you which sources actually earn their place, which duplicate each other, and where the collection has a hole. Ten good sources beat fifty mediocre ones, and this is how you find out which ten you have.
Act as a research librarian assessing this collection before I synthesise it. For each selected source, give me one row: - Title - What it uniquely contributes that no other source here does - Quality signal: primary evidence / secondary reporting / opinion / promotional - Keep, merge with [which source], or drop — and one line of why Then, separately: 1. Which sources substantially duplicate each other? 2. What question would I want to answer from this collection that nothing here covers? 3. If I could add exactly two sources, what should they be? Judge only what is in the sources. If you cannot tell what kind of source something is, say so rather than guessing.
How to use it
- 1Open your notebook at notebooklm.google.com.
- 2Replace the [bracketed] parts with your specifics.
- 3Paste the prompt into the chat box and send it.
Square brackets mark the parts you replace with your own topic or question.
More workflows prompts
- Conversational BotAdded as a source, it makes the notebook answer in a friendly, conversational register while still handling analysis and generation requests. Spells out how it weighs your own sources against general knowledge — where the two disagree, your sources win.
- Custom BotA harness rather than a persona. Add it as a source alongside a second source holding your own instructions, and the notebook becomes that assistant; add it alone and it asks you for the instructions.
- Listener BotAdded as a source, it draws a half-formed idea out of you through questions, then turns the finished version into a deliverable. It runs conversationally until you ask it to export — at which point it tells you to deselect the document first.
- Chat Episode (Audio Overviews)A source document for Audio Overviews rather than chat. Once added and selected, generate an Audio Overview and the hosts pause for listener input instead of talking straight through, with rules for switching language mid-episode.