Create a new shared notebook

Taking notes as a group is a collaborative process. Unlike other programs that "lock" files for editing by one person at a time, Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 lets multiple users access a shared set of notes at the same time. It automatically synchronizes everyone's changes to the notebook, so that the notebook is always up-to-date.

OneNote also maintains a separate offline copy of the notes on each user's computer. That way, participants can edit the notes locally even when they are disconnected from the network. The next time they connect to the shared notebook, OneNote automatically merges their changes with the changes made by everyone else.

Setting up a shared notebook is easy. The New Notebook Wizard guides you through the steps for creating a shared notebook in a network location that you and your team members have access to. You can also create the notebook on a file share on your computer.

Create a new shared notebook

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Notebook.

2. In the New Notebook Wizard, do the following:

   • In the Name box, enter a name for the shared notebook (for example, Weekly Team Status Reports or Philosophy study group notes).

   • Optionally, select a color for the notebook cover, which will be displayed as an icon on the Notebooks navigation bar.

   • Optionally, in the From Template list, select a default template to be used for the pages in the shared notebook.

3. Click Next.

4. Under Who will use this notebook?, click Multiple people will share the notebook, and then do one of the following:

   • Click On a server if you and the people who will be using the shared notebook have permission to access and change the files on a network file share or server.

     Note: You may need to contact your network administrator to obtain permission to access a file share on a server.

   • Click In a shared folder on this computer to create a file share on your computer that others will be able to access. You need to be logged in as an Administrator on your computer in order to create a shared folder on your hard disk drive.

     Note: Choose this option only if your computer is available on the network most of the time. If you frequently take your computer offline or travel with it, consider creating the shared notebook on a network file share.

5. Click Next.

6. Choose a suitable location for your new shared notebook. We recommend the following locations:

   • An internal or public file share on your company's or school's computer network

   • A shared folder on a computer on which you have administrator permissions

   • A document library on a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Web site

   • A high-storage-capacity USB (Universal Serial Bus) drive

     We recommend that you do not use shared notebooks with any other file-sharing or folder-sharing and synchronization technologies.

7. In the Location box, verify the suggested location for the shared notebook.

   Note: The notebook name that you enter in step 2 is automatically added to the location path.

8. To compose an e-mail message that contains a link to the location of the shared notebook, select the Create an e-mail with a link to this notebook that I can send to other people check box.

   Tip: To send a link to the shared notebook after it is created, on the Share menu, click Send Shared Notebook Link to Others.

9. Click Create.

   Note: OneNote creates a shared notebook at the location that you named. Depending on the options that you selected in the New Notebook Wizard, OneNote may display a dialog box and an additional Help topic to guide you through the steps to set the permissions for other users.