Best book for my skill level?

[Phil]

I am a novice user with Access 2000. I have a five table database that
works, but know it can be designed much better. I want to learn much more.
I have no experience coding, no exposure to VBA or anything like that. I
can make rudimentary queries, reports, and forms, but struggle. Overall I
know enough to be dangerous, and am not real competent. I am quite computer
literate, just not in Access. I am reading the book Inside Relational
Databases by Whitehorn and Marklyn, as I feel I need to understand the
foundation of design before using the tool to build the design. I was
looking at either (or both) Microsoft Access 2000 Step by Step, and/or
Special Edition Using Microsoft Access 2000 by Jennings as help to using the
Access 2000 application.

Other thoughts?

Thank you,

- Phil

[Pieter Linden]

"Phil" <p.*****@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<rthEc.136187$Sw.27126@attbi_s51>...

I am a novice user with Access 2000. I have a five table database that
works, but know it can be designed much better. I want to learn much more.
I have no experience coding, no exposure to VBA or anything like that. I
can make rudimentary queries, reports, and forms, but struggle. Overall I
know enough to be dangerous, and am not real competent. I am quite computer
literate, just not in Access. I am reading the book Inside Relational
Databases by Whitehorn and Marklyn, as I feel I need to understand the
foundation of design before using the tool to build the design. I was
looking at either (or both) Microsoft Access 2000 Step by Step, and/or
Special Edition Using Microsoft Access 2000 by Jennings as help to using the
Access 2000 application.

Other thoughts?

Thank you,

- Phil

If you're having trouble getting your head around design issues, try
"Database Design for Mere Mortals" by Hernandez.

[Larry Linson]

"Phil" wrote

I was looking at either (or both) Microsoft Access
2000 Step by Step,
Good for novice users, but you'll soon outgrow it.
and/or Special Edition Using Microsoft Access
2000 by Jennings

Starts with the basics and goes much, much deeper than the Step-by-Step
book. I recommend it.

If you have a choice in the matter, I also suggest you move on to Access
2002 (part of Office XP) or Access 2003 (part of Office 2003 System). If you
have no choice in the matter, be sure you get and apply all three (3)
Service Packs to Access 2000. Without them, it is arguably the buggiest
release ever of the Access product. Oh, if you get the later versions, be
sure and get all the applicable service packs for those, too.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[Phil]

OK, I am considering the Office 2003 Pro upgrade. Still the same
recommendations on books?

- Phil

"Larry Linson" <bo*****@localhost.not> wrote in message
news:DH******************@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...

"Phil" wrote

> I was looking at either (or both) Microsoft Access
> 2000 Step by Step,
Good for novice users, but you'll soon outgrow it.

> and/or Special Edition Using Microsoft Access
> 2000 by Jennings

Starts with the basics and goes much, much deeper than the Step-by-Step
book. I recommend it.

If you have a choice in the matter, I also suggest you move on to Access
2002 (part of Office XP) or Access 2003 (part of Office 2003 System). If

you have no choice in the matter, be sure you get and apply all three (3)
Service Packs to Access 2000. Without them, it is arguably the buggiest
release ever of the Access product. Oh, if you get the later versions, be
sure and get all the applicable service packs for those, too.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[XMVP]

"Phil" <p.*****@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:wKCEc.5247$Oq2.1107@attbi_s52...

OK, I am considering the Office 2003 Pro upgrade. Still the same
recommendations on books?

- Phil

Sorry to say, Phil, but you've been suckered by our resident quack, Lame
Larry Linson. He doesn't know anything about Access 2000, 2002, or
2003--other than what he has "read" or heard.

There are essentially no significant differences among the various
2000-flavors of Access. We have a worldwide operation that uses all three
versions as front ends. We pass them around and nobody even notices. No
version is more or less stable than the other.

Jennings' books used to be pretty good years ago, but it's been a long time
since I have read one. (I'm too busy building databases, unlike Lame Larry
Linson, who only reads about databases so he can impress newbies.)

[Larry Linson]

"Phil" wrote

OK, I am considering the Office 2003
Pro upgrade. Still the same
recommendations on books?

I have read and thought well of MVP John Viescas' book "Access 2003 Inside
Out" by Microsoft Press.

I haven't looked at the Jennings' book for Access 2003, but it's been useful
in all the prior editions. Jennings seems to be specializing more in SQL
Server and .NET, these days, but, as far as I know, he still writes the
"Special Edition - Using..." books.

There is a great deal of difference between Access 2000 and Access 2002 /
2003 in stability, though, as I said, the difference is less if all the
Service Packs are applied.

It is true that there are few Access-specific differences between Access
2002 and Access 2003. Most of the differences are Office-wide and in the
area of corporate enterprise collaboration functionality.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP