John-
Greetings! Brown & Sharpe has an "Introduction to Coordinate Metrology" pamphlet which covers basic topics such as alignments, the difference between part and machine coordinates, constructed features, volumetric compensation, and much more. It is written for the user who has never seen a CMM before. You can view this document online at http://www.brownandsharpe.com/ then click on "Intro. to Coordinate Metrology". Hope this helps. Let me know if I can do more.
-Glenn Russell