Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Betty (Carringer) Seaver's Life Summary, Chat Q&A and Audio Overview Using the Google NotebookLM AI Feature

 After reading the information provided by Google's NotebookLM Artificial Intelligence tool and using it over the weekend (see Google's NotebookLM Can Summarize Large Text Files Using AI - My First Notebook  and Exploring the Google NotebookLM AI Tool - Chat and Notebook Guide (with Audio Overview) - Updated!), I wondered:

"Can NotebookLM take one of my ancestor genealogical sketches and craft something useful from them?"

1)  I used my blog post My Mother -- Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002) of San Diego, California as the Source information and updated it to a new Notebook in NotebookLM.

2)  The NotebookLM system went through the upload of the Source, provided a one paragraph summary, listed the Source information on the left.  Then I clicked on the creation of the five "Key Topics."  Here is the screen after the first Key Topic (Betty Seaver's Life"):


I can save each one of the "Key Topics" to a "Saved Note" and download it to my computer (I put it in a word file that has all of the captured text).  There are several suggested questions to elicit more information in the Chat field at the bottom of the right-hand panel.  If you click on one of them, the system will answer the uestion and the user can save that as a Note also.  There can be many suggestions!  Here is a screen of one of the Chat questions:


I can capture the text with the "copy" icon in the lower left corner of the note screen, and I can "Save to note" in the lower right corner of the note screen. 

3)  After chatting awhile, the user can click on the blue link to "Notebook guide" at the bottom of the screen  The "Notebook guide" screen:


The "Notebook guide" is a popup that covers some of the Saved Notes from the Key Topics and Chat Notes.  There three major features here:

  • The "Help me create" section in the upper left, with links to create an FAQ, a Study Guide, a Table of Contents, a Timeline, and a Briefing Doc.  If you create those, you can save them as a Saved Note.
  • The "Audio Overview" section is at the top right, and clicking on the "Load" button will create a 10-minute (maximum) discussion like a pocast with two hosts discussing the source information.
  • The "Suggested questions" section at the bottom right has questions that can be answered in the Chat and the user can save them in a Saved Note.

4)  I clicked on the "Load" button on the "Audio Overview," and it took a minute or so to create the two-person podcast-like description of the source material.  When it was done, the screen was:


 It told me that the discussion was 09:40 minutes long, and I could play it with the "> play icon.  There are several other icons above the audio line - up-thumb, down-thumb, Share Audio Overview (choose public access and it will copy the link to the audio in your computer clipboard), and the three-dots (options are "Change playback speed," "Download" and "Delete").

Here is the link for this Audio Overview of my mother's genealogical sketch:    https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/ce047ccd-d0b1-4a82-a14a-87bf2b13c4ce/audio

I downloaded the audio file and saved it in my file folder.  I also copied all of the Saved Notes to a word processing document on my computer hard drive, and those all get backed up on iDrive every day.

5)  Here is the "Briefing Doc" that I downloaded:

Betty Carringer Seaver: A Life Sketched Through Census Records and Family Lore

This briefing document examines the life of Betty Carringer Seaver (1919-2002) as revealed through a combination of genealogical records, family narratives, and historical context.

Early Life and Family Roots:

Betty was born on July 30, 1919, in San Diego, California, the only child of Lyle Lawrence Carringer and Emily Kemp Auble. Her family resided in a home built by her paternal grandparents at 2105 30th Street, in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood.

A San Diego Upbringing:

Betty's childhood unfolded against the backdrop of a burgeoning San Diego. The 1920 and 1930 censuses provide glimpses into her family life, listing their residence, occupations, and household members, including Betty's maternal grandmother, Georgia K. Auble. Growing up near Balboa Park, Betty spent considerable time amidst its cultural offerings, including the zoo, museums, and gardens.

Education and Early Career:

Following her education at local schools, culminating in graduation from San Diego High School in 1936, Betty attended San Diego State College. She graduated in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Her artistic talents were evident even then, and she was an active member of the Phi Sigma Nu sorority, maintaining lifelong friendships with her sorority sisters.

  • "She was an active artist during her college years and later in her life." (Source 6)

Marriage and Family Life:

Betty's path crossed with Frederick Walton Seaver Jr. through a chance encounter arranged by a student’s cousin. Their wedding announcement in the San Diego Union on April 5, 1942, provides details about their backgrounds and aspirations.

  • "Miss Carringer is a graduate of San Diego State college, where she affiliated with Phi Sigma Nu sorority. She is teaching in the San Diego city schools. "Mr. Seaver is a graduate of Worcester (Mass.) Academy, and attended Dartmouth college. He is now associated with an aircraft corporation." (Source 11)

  • They married on July 12, 1942, and started their family in Chula Vista before moving back to the family home on 30th Street. The 1950 census captures the young family, listing their sons, Randall (born 1943) and Stanley (born 1946). A third son, Scott, was born in 1955. Betty balanced motherhood with teaching positions at various junior high schools, including Pacific Beach, Memorial, and Brooklyn Elementary, where her sons were students.

Later Years and Artistic Pursuits:

As her sons built their own families, Betty rekindled her passion for art, specializing in enameling on copper. She joined art guilds, exhibited and sold her work, and gifted her creations to family members.

  • "In the 1970's...Betty found more time for her artwork, especially enameling on copper...She joined the Allied Craftsmen and the Enamel Guild..." (Source 6)

  • Following the death of her parents, Betty and Fred moved to Point Loma. She remained active in her community, attending adult education classes, taking bus trips for shopping, and participating in sorority events. Despite facing challenges such as Fred's death in 1983 and a breast cancer diagnosis in 1982, Betty maintained a positive outlook on life.

  • "In a 1984 interview with her granddaughter, Lori Seaver, Betty said that her philosophy of life is 'to be kind to everybody.'" (Source 6)

  • Surrounded by her loving family, Betty Carringer Seaver passed away peacefully on January 4, 2002. Her obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune highlights her artistic contributions, membership in craft guilds, and the enduring love of her family.

This review of available sources underscores the value of combining genealogical data with family stories. While census records offer factual snapshots of specific moments, it is through personal anecdotes and memories that we gain a richer understanding of Betty's character, her love for family, and her lifelong passion for art.

Note that some of the Briefing and Chat items have a Source number - when you click them, you can see where in the Source documents the information was obtained.

6)  Some final thoughts:

  • I thought that the "Briefing Doc" was accurate and neutral, and that many of the Chat answers were insightful and accurate.  The Audio Overview has a view details wrong, like her death year.  
  • This process does not take very long as long as you have the Source document(s) on hand.  Some of the "Help me create" items on the "Notebook guide" took a long time to generate and some never did generate for me.  
  • I will share the links to the Notebook and to the Audio Overview with my daughters and brothers.  
  • I need to find a way to put the Audio Overview into a YouTube video.  If you have experience with WAV files into a YouTube video, please advise me!
  • I encourage my readers to try this NotebookLM AI feature out to see if it will help you write about your ancestral fmailies, or create family stories to share with your family. 

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Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

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