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The first thing to do is get ready for Murphey's law - "what can go wrong will go wrong" so make sure that you have a verified backup of all your important files. Burn them onto CD or something. Also be prepared for the fact that a linux install (depending on which distro you choose) may take a while.
I would also suggest you make a boot disk for Windows before starting - if you manage to break the boot process while trying to get things to dual-boot this may prove very valuable.
There are a whole heap of postings on the internet about dual-booting linux, so I would want to know what distro you are going to use before going any further.
I currently tri-boot Gentoo, Ubuntu and Windows - Gentoo is not for the faint hearted (though it has awesome documentation) and will take a long time to install. Ubuntu is a great choice otherwise as it is pretty easy to use - as far a people new to linux are concerned!
The next steps in the process once you have decided on a distro are:
1. Partition your HDD - you'll probably have NTFS if you are running XP, so use a tool like Partition Magic (commercial) or a free linux tool to partition things (can't remember the name of the tool at the moment, post back if you need it)
2. Install your chosen distro
3. Configure a boot loader (LILO or GRUB) - I use LILO so I can help you with that.
Best of luck!
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