Access 2003 for Dummies

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
• Published by: For Dummies
• Edition: 1st Edition October 10, 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0764538810
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0764538810
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Description
When you hear the word “database,” do your eyes glaze over? Does the mention of fields and tables make your blood pressure skyrocket? Does the idea of entering and using hyperlinks make you hyperventilate?

Whether you’re running a business or a household . . . whether you need to be able to quickly access customer information, your recipe for chicken cacciatore, or the Little League team’s records, Access 2003 holds the key. This friendly guide unlocks the secrets of using Access 2003 to store, manage, organize, reorganize, and use data! It gives you:

• The basics of the whole database concept
• Suggestions for solving problems with Access
• What you need to know to design, build, use, and change Access tables
• Info on the ten most common types of fields
• The scoop on using queries to unearth the answers hiding somewhere in your data
• Guidelines for using the Access report system to make short work of long, previously time-consuming, reports

In the relaxed, comfortable For Dummies style, this book has easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and lots of screen shots. If you want to create and manage a database for a huge auction house, this guide will get you going . . . going . . .  gone. If you want to create a database for your music collection, it gives you the score then shows you how to use formatting and add graphics to jazz it up. You’ll get the low-down on extracting all kinds of information from databases and putting that information to practical use. You’ll discover how to:

• Use Label Wizard to create mailing labels, file labels, shipping labels, or name tags
• Use Chart Wizard to create line charts, bar, cone, and column charts, pie and donut charts, area charts, and XY and bubble charts
• Use Auto Reports to create columnar or tabular reports and then fine-tune them
• Export reports to Microsoft Word and Excel
• Get your data Web-ready and put it on the Internet in either static or dynamic form
• Build forms with Form Wizard

And speaking of high-tech fun, Access 2003 For Dummies even tells you how to install and use speech recognition software with Access 2003. So if the idea of working with databases has you talking to yourself, this is just the book you need.

Book Info
Guide to using Microsoft Access 2003, written in plain English. Shows how to construct tables, create reports, work with existing databases, and more. Softcover.

Reader Reviews
I've taught database theory at university Master's level, used MySql in a UNIX/Linux environment, and have a Ph.D. in computer science. I don't need to learn SQL or how to program, but I did need to know how to get something done with this MS Office product, and quickly. This book was a perfect fit. It's not strong on VBA or other programming hooks, or what Microsoft calls database projects, and it's no substitute for learning the fundamentals of database design and use (though it does have some very good introductory material), it is quite comprehensible and thorough as a tutorial, guidebook, and reference on the user interface that is unique to MS Access. Access is a big application and this is, appropriately, a big book. Again, it was just what I needed. Regarding another reviewer's dislike of the cute jokes, it's really not bad at all, a real relief compared to the otherwise excellent O'Reilly `animal series' computer books.