Ross,

>I would like to have a brief history of the HP3000 ...

You might want to check out http://www.aics-research.com/relperf.html
which gives a nice list of various historic and current HP 3000 models
and their relative performance numbers. Not a full history, though.

>I am also looking for good
>books. I will be scheduled for HP training just after the first of the year
>but until then I have to learn, learn, learn.

I found two manuals somewhat useful to get an introductory overview,
one is called "HP 3000 General Information Manual" or similar, and the
other is called "Getting Started as an MPE/iX Programmer" or similar.
They might not have been updated recently, but nevertheless you might
want to check out their table of contents to see if they have topics
of interest for you.

Don't know if those two manuals are already available at http://docs.hp.com
but they should also be available on the LaserROM manuals CD (if you happen
to have one).

Another helpful source of information on historic developments might be
the Communicator/3000 manuals, which are a kind of release notes that come
with new OS versions and discuss changes and enhancements. At least worth
having a look at the table of contents when a new one arrives.

Should also be at http://docs.hp.com or on LaserROM CD (or paper, of course).

Regards, Lars.

PS: You might also want to try http://www.hp.com/go/3000servers for info!