Google added a new feature to Gemini that lets students use textbooks directly for AI learning. Users can pick books from a catalog, including S Chand Publishing, to create study guides, quizzes, and flashcards. Every answer shows citations that link back to the source, helping parents verify school exam material.
What problem does it solve?
If you have a child in school, you know the exam-week pattern. They ask an AI chatbot about a chapter, get a confident answer, and neither of you can tell whether it matches the book the teacher follows. The alternative is hunting for a PDF of the right edition.
What can it do?
Skip the PDF hunt: Choose a book from the catalog instead of downloading files.
Stay on the page: Every answer carries citations that link back to the source.
Practise, not just read: Turn a textbook into study guides, practice quizzes and flashcards.
Example
A parent has five days before their child’s school science test and adds the school’s book through Add sources, then Textbooks.
Prompt the content: Ask “Summarise chapter 4 in simple language for a Class 8 student.”
Request the format: Follow with “Create a study guide for chapters 4 to 6.”
Specify structure: Add “Include key terms and a one-line meaning for each.”
Set the tone: Try “Explain it like I am twelve, then list five terms to remember.”
Switch format: Ask “Now turn this into flashcards.” or “Quiz me on chapters 1 to 3, ten questions.”
Check the source: Click any citation to open the exact passage in the book.
What makes Textbooks in Gemini Notebook special?
Real scale: Google says hundreds of textbooks, not a handful of samples.
India included: S Chand Publishing sits in the catalog beside OpenStax and the Open Textbook Library.
Books you own: Eligible ebooks you bought on Google Play Books can already be added as sources.
Mint's ‘AI tool of the week’ is excerpted from Leslie D'Monte's weekly TechTalk newsletter. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox.