Nowadays it can be hard to find a hardcopy of a manual. Most of us have to use electronic manuals and they are often accessible through the IBM product called BookManager. The startup point for BookManager is normally a very loooong list of bookshelves. And then we just have to find the right bookshelf. But this tip is not about finding the right manual, but about refinding it much easier and quicker next time.

In BookManager you are able to make your own personal bookshelf. In this bookshelf you can place all your favourite and most often used manuals. This will save you a lot of time. You create a new bookshelf by placing yourself in an existing bookshelf (remember, that you start in a bookshelf LIST, not at bookshelf). It is most practical to choose a bookshelf containing a manual, that you would like to be the first in your personal bookshelf.

1. Type in a / to the left of the desired manual
2. Choose Group in the menu-bar.
3. Choose item 1
4. Choose item 3
5. Fill in the fields Name and Index with the same <name> at your own choice. This becomes the name of your personal bookshelf. Now fill in the Description field with any text you like. Fill in field Datasetname with <name>.BKSHELF and fill in the Index datasetname with <name>.BKINDEX. BookManager uses standard TSO-prefixing rules for datasetnames.
6. Press Enter
7. Press Enter again.

Now you are the owner of your own private bookshelf. Next time you start up BookManager it can be found somewhere on the bookshelf list. When you want to expand your personal bookshelf with another favourite manual, you do it like this:

1. Type in a / to the left of the desired manual
2. Choose Group in the menu-bar.
3. Choose item 1
4. Choose item 1
5. Fill in field Bookshelf name with <name>
6. Press Enter

Next time you enter your own personal bookshelf all the manuals you have selected for your personal bookshelf will appear. Now I can only wish you good luck. I will be back with more tips about BookManager.