integrate 3 different mailing lists into one ?

[Guest]

The secy in my office, has 3 separate mailing lists. Does anyone know of a
program that will pull entries from each list and meld them into one list. I
want to avoid the time consuming task of data entry.
I'm using Windows 2000 OS. Can the new list be created in Word or Access
regardless of the sources of the
original lists?

Thanks for your help.

 

[John Vinson]

The secy in my office, has 3 separate mailing lists. Does anyone know of a
program that will pull entries from each list and meld them into one list. I
want to avoid the time consuming task of data entry.
I'm using Windows 2000 OS. Can the new list be created in Word or Access
regardless of the sources of the
original lists?

I'd do it in Access - Access is a relational database, better suited
for storing searchable, sortable, flexible lists of many records of
information.

Regardless of the source? Well, not really. Some sources convert
easier than others: Access table dead easy (an Append query); Excel,
possibly a bit trickier but still doable; Word table, pretty serious
pain in the neck (really easier to copy and paste it into Excel and
import from there); Word plain-text file laid out as mailing labels
three across: OUCH, a complex data conversion project.

That doesn't even address the problem of pruning out duplicates. Is
Karen Vinson at xxxxx My Street, Parma ID the same person as Dr. K.
Strickler at the same address? Yep. Is Fred Brown, 1234 Main St the
same as Fred Brown, 1234 Main St.? Nope, it's his son Fred Jr.



John W. Vinson[MVP]

 

[John Vinson]

The secy in my office, has 3 separate mailing lists. Does anyone know of a
program that will pull entries from each list and meld them into one list. I
want to avoid the time consuming task of data entry.
I'm using Windows 2000 OS. Can the new list be created in Word or Access
regardless of the sources of the
original lists?

I'd do it in Access - Access is a relational database, better suited
for storing searchable, sortable, flexible lists of many records of
information.

Regardless of the source? Well, not really. Some sources convert
easier than others: Access table dead easy (an Append query); Excel,
possibly a bit trickier but still doable; Word table, pretty serious
pain in the neck (really easier to copy and paste it into Excel and
import from there); Word plain-text file laid out as mailing labels
three across: OUCH, a complex data conversion project.

That doesn't even address the problem of pruning out duplicates. Is
Karen Vinson at xxxxx My Street, Parma ID the same person as Dr. K.
Strickler at the same address? Yep. Is Fred Brown, 1234 Main St the
same as Fred Brown, 1234 Main St.? Nope, it's his son Fred Jr.

Not a fun job!!

(Sorry for the double post)

John W. Vinson[MVP]

 

[Guest]

Hi Barb, I would recommend that you have your most computer literate person
(access experience great but not a must) and use the wizards provided in
access to get started. You can tweak thing, make separate tables for the
lists you refer to as you go along, or after the fact. Depending on the
number of records on each list you may consider just re-entering them (no
importing from other program). Access is actually a very powerful tool to
store information such as your mailing lists and a lot more. I will look for
further posting from you to see if you have started and help guide you
through as much as possible.

 

[Guest]

--
Mark N

Hi Barb, I would recommend that you have your most computer literate person
(access experience great but not a must) and use the wizards provided in
access to get started. You can tweak thing, make separate tables for the
lists you refer to as you go along, or after the fact. Depending on the
number of records on each list you may consider just re-entering them (no
importing from other program). Access is actually a very powerful tool to
store information such as your mailing lists and a lot more. I will look for
further posting from you to see if you have started and help guide you
through as much as possible.

 

[Guest]

Hi Barb,
If you need further assistance from my general instructions email me direct
and I will get you started.