Access 2002 for Dummies

Overview

The truth is, the database is the computer world's best-kept secretthat everyone really knows about. Everyone knows about them becauseeveryone uses them – from the little database youuse to keep track of addresses and phone numbers on your computerto huge databases that banks use to house the financial informationof millions of people. However, nobody talks about databasesbecause they're so darned complicated to set up and use; quitefrankly, nobody but the geeks who design and build them really knowhow they work!

How does this apply to you? Well, being a normal human being(translation: not a computer geek), you probably have work to do.In fact, you may have lots of work piled up precariously aroundyour office. Someone, possibly your boss (or, if you work at home,your Significant Other), suggested that a database may help you getmore organized, eliminate the piles, and generally make the safetyinspector happy. Good advice, except for the fact that you, likemost other people, don't know thing-one about setting up adatabase. And you have this program called Access 2002 on yourcomputer that's supposed to do all that for you.

But how do you get started with Access 2002 and have it set upthe kind of database you need? Well, you've come to the rightplace.

Written in plain, understandable English (try to find that inyour typical software manual), Access 2002 For Dummies showsyou how to make sense of that whole complicated database thingwithout boring you silly or turning you into a world-class computergeek. Here are just a few of the topics you'll find covered inAccess 2002 For Dummies:

• Touring the basic functions of Access 2002
• Designing and building a database – withouttearing out what's left of your hair
• Building data relationships, keys, and indexes
• Making your data presentable
• Searching: Find, filter, and sort
• Posing queries and creating calculations
• Running reports and creating charts
• Feeding your data to a Web site
• Top Ten lists on timesaving techniques, surviving databasecrises, and tips from those computer geeks to make your databaselife easier

So no matter what you want to use your databasefor – whether it's to store inventory information,to feed information dynamically to a Web site, or simply to trackyour business contacts (so you can get rid of that drawer full ofbusiness cards) – you can find all the informationyou need in Access 2002 For Dummies.

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