Access 2003 for Dummies

by John Kaufeld

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764538810
• ISBN13: 9780764538810
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Good Fast Way to Get Started

This is a quick and dirty guide to using Access to get information into and out of a database. Access is part of Microsoft's Office Suite. It's designed for small, personal use database applications. This book fits that philosophy quite well. It uses the front end philosophy that Microsoft has done so well to enable a database to be designed, an input form to be created and an output report to be generated. The list of things that this book (and to a lessor extent Access itself) doesn't do is long. There is very little theory on database design. There isn't much on SQL, the language of databases. The idea here is to get a fairly simple, desktop you might call it, database up and being productive very quickly. And at this task the book does quite well. I also think that this is a good way to get started in learning about databases. If you subsequently find that your needs are more than you can get out of Access, you'll have a bit of background that makes the jump to a real database like Oracle, DB2, or SQL Server that much easier.

Very Helpful

this book is very helpful for a class or if you are learning how to use this system... i bought it for my boyfriend and he loves it!

MS Office Dummy

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.

Great Author

John Caufield is a great writer! This books makes me laugh and that's good when you're dealing with computer software training! Although I am already an experienced Access user, I will still read this book cover-to-cover. The content is great and easily understandable. This book will also serve as a great reference for when I start creating my own databases!

A Dummy's Opinion

I am a Dummy. This book was aimed right at me. It hit the bull's-eye like most of the "Dummies" books I have purchased in the past. I have never worked with databases before. After using this book I find that I am still a dummy, but now I have the book to help me anytime I run into trouble. Thank you John Kaufeld.