There are quite a few sources, on MacOS documentation. These are some of the docs and books I've found, a lot of it can be found at Apple's web site, as PDF files (see below)...
Online Help - AppleGuide
AppleGuide can be accessed via the "?" menu or the Help key. It has many topics available to you, with regard to a lot of MacOS's features - however it does not go into detail about how they work, but gives you an overview of that feature, and steps on how to do something. AppleGuide is available on Systems 7.5x to 8.1.
Help is System 7.0 to 7.1's simplistic help system, again it gives you a basic guide to the Macintosh's System features.
Books
The Macintosh Bible - 6th edition (Peachit Press)
Guide to Macintosh System 7.5 (Hayden)
MacWorld OS7.6 Bible (IDG Books), or
The Mac OS8 Bible (IDG Books)
Buy these on-line at Computer Manuals.
Document Files
* FREE Guide Macintosh (freeware, from any web site) - contains a lot of useful info about MacOS.
* Extension Overload (shareware), has some info on MacOS, but not much.
* InformINIT (shareware), has quite a bit of info on MacOS.
Apple's Manual/Technical Info Library Web Sites
For Apple's Manuals web site, go to: www.info.apple.com/manuals/
For the Technical Information web site, go to: til.info.apple.com
Both of these will take you to a search engine web page, where you can browse or search for a particular document, by part code, title or content. Try these PDFs, they're worth a read!
Internet Pages
www.mactimes.com/lowend/ - info on 68k Macs.
www.webaccess.net/~mrpedri/index.html - info on 68k Macs.
| PDF Title | PDF Filename | Part Number | Filesize | Comment |
| xSystem 7.x Documentation | ||||
| Macintosh Reference [MacOS 7] | MacintoshReference.pdf | N/A | 1.1mb | Essential! |
| How to Install System 7 | HowToInstallSystem7.pdf | N/A | 16K | Limited info |
| System 7 Information | System7Information.pdf | N/A | 40K | Limited info |
| System 7 [Upgrade Guide] | 0302650Sys7UpgradeGuide.pdf | 030-2650 | 72K | Useful |
| System 7 [Macintosh Reference] | MacReferenceSystem7.pdf | N/A | 193K | Essential! |
| System 7 [Tune Up] | 0302605System7TuneUp.pdf | 030-2605 | 16K | Useful |
| System 7 Pro [Multipack Hndbk] | System7ProMultipack.pdf | N/A | 47K | Limited info |
| System 7.1 [Upgrade Guide] | 0302799Sys71UpdateGuide.pdf | 0302799 | 16K | Useful |
| System 7.1 [New Features] | NewFeature7.1.pdf | N/A | 30K | Useful |
| Macintosh System 7.5 [Manual] | 96608001AMOS7.5UPGUM.PDF | 96608-001 | 1.0mb | Essential! |
| Macintosh System 7.5 Upgrade Manual | 0307163ASYS75UPG.PDF | 030-7163 | 1.1mb | Essential! |
| Macintosh System 7.5 [Group Upgrade Manual] | 0305759AMOS75UGHBK.PDF | 030-5759 | 628K | Useful |
| System 7.5.5 Update | U96501036AMMOS7.5.5UD.PDF | U96501-036 | 19K | Limited info |
| Mac OS 7.6.1 Software Update | 0340231AOS761SWUD.PDF | 034-0231 | 619K | Very good |
| *Mac OS 7.6 [New Features] | U96609036AMOS7.6IM.PDF | U96609-036 | 530K | Essential! |
| *Mac OS 7.6 [Install+Features] | MacOS7.6Install.pdf | N/A | 530K | Essential! |
| Installing Mac OS 7.6.1 | 0330496AMOS761PM.PDF | 033-0496 | 23K | Limited info |
| About Your Computer's System | 0330544A7.6.1SWAD.PDF | 033-0544 | 35K | Limited info |
| Macintosh Basics 5.03 (2nd ed) | ?unknown? | N/A | 1.2mb | Essential! |
| Apple Software Updates | 96511016AMOS7.55WUD.PDF | 96511-016 | 18K | Useful |
| xSystem 8.x Documentation | ||||
| Mac OS 8 User Manual | U97609001AMOS8II.PDF | U97609-001 | 744K | Useful |
| Mac OS 8 Additions | 30609MacOS8CPUAdd.pdf | 033-0609 | 909K | Useful |
| Mac OS 8 Install & Configure | MacOS8Install.pdf | N/A | 499K | Useful |
| Mac OS 8.1 [about HFS+] | 0330901AMACOS81UD.PDF | 033-090 | 10K | Not much use |
| Emergency Handbook | PMac_Emergency_Handbook.pdf | N/A | 531K | Useful |
[The Emergency Handbook is mainly for PowerMac users, but it has a lot of relevant information (bootup problems and general MacOS problems) which you may find useful.]
*These two PDFs are virtually the same. [xxx] describes it's contents.