Dan:
Base the merge on a query which joins the table to the table from which the
'looked up' text is derived. You can then return the text field from that
table in the query rather than the foreign key field which references it.
Say for instance you have a table Contacts with a field CityID which
references the autonumber primary key CityID of a Cities table which contains
a text field City the you might use a query along these lines:
SELECT FirstName, LastName, Address1, Address2, City
FROM Contacts INNER JOIN Cities
ON Contacts.CityID = Cities.CityID;
In the above the FirstName, LastName, Address1 and Address2 fields are in
the Contacts table, the City field in the Cities table.
Ken Sheridan
Stafford, England