Where do I start?

[Guest]

I am very knew to all of these programs but I want to learn so that I can
make a better future for myself but I don't understand half the programs that
are out here. Any ideas on where my starting point should be? I know a little
about computers but this stuff now has me totally confused.

 

[Guest]

I found the Northwind Database example (supplied with Access) a good learning
tool. Also, downloading various database templates from Office online was
also quite helpful. What you need to do from the outset is decide what you
want your database to do for you.
Plan out on paper what data you need to record and/or manipulate. eg:
Customers, Suppliers, Orders, Order Details, Employees, Products, Categories
etc. You'll need a curious mind to follow some of the relationships, queries
and visual basic code steps but in the end, Access is do exactly what you
want it to do. Good Luck!

 

[John Vinson]

I am very knew to all of these programs but I want to learn so that I can
make a better future for myself but I don't understand half the programs that
are out here. Any ideas on where my starting point should be? I know a little
about computers but this stuff now has me totally confused.

Nobody I've ever met even PRETENDS to understand "half the programs
that are out there" - there are hundreds of thousands of "programs out
there", some of them complex enough to be someone's life work to
master!

It's a bit like walking into a well equpipped carpentry shop, and
seeing racks and racks of all sorts of different tools. Which one do
you use!?

It depends on what you want to accomplish: you use a saw for cutting
wood, not a level.

So approach "programs" with a similar mindset: identify what you want
to accomplish, and then find a program that you can learn to help you
do so.

If what you want to accomplish is to maintain lists of information,
search and sort it, and produce reports, Access is a good tool, and
we'll be glad to help you get introduced to it.

John W. Vinson[MVP]