Customer Reviews

Access 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

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Amazon should make it clear that if you buy this book you are buying a truncated big print version of "Access 2007, the Missing Manual". The text in the "For Starters" version is word for word identical to the bigger volume, but there is less of it.

If you think you are getting an elementary text and a more advanced text, you aren't. Given that the price difference between this book and the more complete text is quite small, this book serves no purpose except as a trap for the unwary.

I had originally purchased the Special Edition of Using Microsoft Office Access 2007 because the updated version of Access was significantly different than 2003. Might just as well being reading a foreign language upside down. Although I am not a novice user of MS Office applications, I found this book to be written for regular people including beginners, not technicians. It was easy to find answers to my questions and guidance for operations I was not sure of. I am constructing a new database and I would definitely recommend this series of manuals.

Have you always wanted to use Access? Have you realized that Excel simply won't work any longer? Then this book is for you. The writing is very friendly yet concise. It is far better than the superfluous fluff of the "For Dummies" series.

The book provides a great overview of how to enter information, arrange into tables, retrieve using queries and present using reports and forms. Queries, forms, and reports will change your life. I now realize how much of my life was wasted collating and formating data for presentation in Excel, when I could have simply created forms, queries, and reports to automate everything.

If you are a graduate student doing any type of research with quantitative results, you need to use Access. I create forms to simplify the data-entry process, and then queries and reports to see the results. Access is simply amazing.

A real strength of this book is how it provides an experienced perspective to databases. Have you ever used a program that had a lot of features, but you had no idea why those features were included? This is true with Access, but the author takes the time to point out why some features may be very important, given the type of work being done.

Don't be afraid of databases. Buy this book, sit down in front of your computer, and start playing. The author provides a lot of databases to play with from his website, so you gain hands-on experience immediately.

Overall, this is a wonderful book. By far the most useful computer book I have ever owned. Enjoy!

Excellent book. Walked me through Access 2007 features in a logical, concise, easy-to-follow manner.

this book is about access that is the main data base program. This book is a great additional to my library. It will help me on the job.