Newbie: Help me choose a book?

[Ed from AZ]

I was given a gift card for Christmas so I could buy myself a book on
Access. While that's a very nice gesture, it really limits my
choices, and excludes one or two that were recommended to me.

Below are what seems to be the best choices within my budget for books
that will take me from beginning to mid-level database construction
and maintenance. I currently use Excel for almost everything, and am
reasonably proficient in Word and Excel VBA. I can make a basic
table, query, form, and report in Access.

I currently have Access 2003, so that's what the following titles are
limited to. I would appreciate any recommendations.

Many thanks,
and a Merry Christmas to all!
Ed

Microsoft Office Access 2003
Author: Glen J. Coulthard

Microsoft Office Access 2003:Step by Step
Author: Online Training Solutions

Microsoft Office Access 2003
Author: Timothy J. Oleary

Microsoft Access 2003 Forms, Reports, and Queries
Author: Paul McFedries

Microsoft Access 2003 Database by Examples
Author: Sheila Ababio

Access 2003: All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies
Author: Alan Simpson

Access & Excel 2003: Advanced Microsoft Office
Author: Philip A. Koneman

 

[Beetle]

There is probably no one "perfect" book. Which one is best for you is sort of
a personal choice. I have several Access books, but if you have to limit
yourself to just one for now, then i would suggest going to your local book
store and browsing through a few of the titles you listed to see which one
"speaks to you", as they say. There are also many good websites, and forums
such as this are a great source of information when you have a specific
problem you need to tackle. You can also learn alot by just browsing through
some of the questions and responses. Personally, I've probably learned as
much from this forum as from any book.

HTH

 

[Ed from AZ]

Thanks for the reply, Sean. I wish _I_ could get several Access
books!!

I have used the newsgroups to learn most of my Word and Excel VBA
programming. I've found a book is handy to keep as a reference by my
desk, though I usually need someone on the NG to translate what I'm
reading into plain English!!

I haven't been to the local bookstore where the gift card was
purchased just yet. Probably do that this weekend.

Mostly I was wondering if there was any of the below books that looked
like a better bet than any of the others. I deliberately stayed away
from the "Learn Access 2003 in 24 hours!" type!! Yeah - if all you
want is one table and some wizards!

Ed

 

[Beetle]

I haven't personally read or looked at any of the books on your list, so
unfortunately I can't make a recommendation. I will say that the first thing
you should learn about (if you haven't already) is proper table design and
relationships. When moving from Excel to Access, many people (including
myself a couple of years ago) make the mistake of thinking that Access works
similar to Excel. It definitely does not. A table may *look* similar to a
spreadsheet when you are viewing it, but it is alot different. If you start
out with faulty table design, then you will have a faulty db no matter how
well designed the other aspects of your db may be.

The fact that you have VBA programming experience will put a few steps ahead
of the game when it comes to that, but you need to start with your tables.

HTH

 

[rebelscum0000]

you should learn about (if you haven't already) is proper table design and

relationships

Hi, I want to learn proper table design and relationships, is there
any good tutorial?

Thanks in advance
Regards,
Antonio Macias

 

[John W. Vinson]

I was given a gift card for Christmas so I could buy myself a book on
Access. While that's a very nice gesture, it really limits my
choices, and excludes one or two that were recommended to me.

Below are what seems to be the best choices within my budget for books
that will take me from beginning to mid-level database construction
and maintenance. I currently use Excel for almost everything, and am
reasonably proficient in Word and Excel VBA. I can make a basic
table, query, form, and report in Access.

I currently have Access 2003, so that's what the following titles are
limited to. I would appreciate any recommendations.

Can't make specific recommendations about these but some general comments:

- Access 2000, 2002 and 2003 differ only in minor ways. A good 2002 book will
cover 98% of what you need to know about 2003. So don't arbitrarily limit
yourself to books with 2003 in the title!
- Learning styles differ; a book that works great for me might be frustrating
for you or vice versa.
- Learning about table design, the relational paradigm, and constructing
Queries using SQL should be a top priority (especially as you're coming from
an Excel background) - higher priority than VBA in my opinion! There are some
excellent books on the subject, some of which don't even specifically deal
with Access at all (Rebecca Riordan's venerable _Designing Relational Database
Systems_ for example).
- You could do well by just visiting the store for which you have a card and
spending an hour or so pulling Access books off the shelf. Browse; look up
something reasonably common but not trivial (the Not In List event on combo
and listboxes for example) to see if the index is useful.


John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Beetle]

If you google the following, you will find some good websites (I can't post
the direct links because I am at work)

Allen Browne (look for a tutorial by Crystal on this site)

Jeff Conrad

The Access Web

Those are just a few.

HTH

 

[John W. Vinson]

Hi, I want to learn proper table design and relationships, is there
any good tutorial?

Thanks in advance
Regards,
Antonio Macias

Here's the sites Beetle recommended along with some others:

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

A free tutorial written by Crystal (MS Access MVP):
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

John W. Vinson [MVP]