Good Things to Do
When Starting out with IRAF

!_bookmark and investigate the official IRAF site
  http://iraf.noao.edu/
!_from the IRAF official site, download the core documentation: 
  http://iraf.noao.edu/       
  * beguide.ps  
    __essentials of the IRAF system (how to log on, etc) 
  * ccduser3.ps
    __cookbook for spectroscopy up to, but not including, 
      extraction of one-dimensional spectra
  * spect.ps
    __cookbook for spectroscopy from extraction forward
!_create your first IRAF sandbox directory          
  (_later, you will probably create                  
    other IRAF sandbox directories,
    and will surely create at least one IRAF production directory) 
!_in your sandbox directory, 
  execute the command mkiraf
!_adjust your IRAF environment, as explained in 
  beguide.ps, 
  so that the variable imdir is set to the value HDR$
!_consider running some of the tutorials 
  from the official IRAF site in your sandbox directory