Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Office Access 2003 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In some form or other, I have been running into relational databases for several years now. I have been interested in, but baffled by them, until now. Despite the previous not-so-positive review, I found this book very helpful for my level of interest and understanding. The book lives up to its name, giving step-by-step instructions on how to build and work with Access databases. Each subsequent step builds on the previous one, providing a logical foundation for building understanding. If you are new to relational databases, or want to brush up on some rusty skills, I would highly recommend this book.

I bought this book with the hope that it would show how to build a database from scratch. I was sorely disappointed. I am a technical professional, but while I expect the learning curve to be relatively flat, I'm really at a standing start when it comes to databases in general and Access in particular. Hence the appeal of the book. But this title really doesn't go much farther than showing you how to do wizard-based stuff. If you know absolutely nothing about Access when you start this book, you'll be nominally north of that when you finish, but not much more. If you really wanna learn Access, this book won't do it.

I wish I had read the reviews prior to purchasing the book. The title is very misleading. Basically it is a review of what Access can do...I was looking for a more hands on approach.

As the title explains, it does take you step by step on doing a few simple tasks but it does not explain what the reasons for...primary keys for example, it just tells you to pick a primary key for this task but on another taks it will tell you not to pick a primary key. What good does knowing how to change a "primary key" when you dont know what it does or what the ramifications are. The same goes for a lot of things that the book tells you do do but doesnt explain why you are doing it.

This book doesn't teach you access to any depth. Lots of fluff but no real meat. Don't spend $27 and waste your time. If you want to learn or master access, check out Alison Balter book "Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2003".

I was dissapointed with this book. I am new to access and was looking for a book on how to build a Dababase. This book came with a cd with all the projects on it. Each chapter refered to the example project and basically showed you what access does. I found this book is really an overview of what access does. I would have prefered a hands on approach and learned how to build a simple Database from scratch. Instead, the teaching method was looking at a already built Database, do a small exercise on the database and move on to another project, this formula was repeated throughtout the book.
Update:After reading several book on Access, the best book that I've found and one that I would highly recommend as an intro book is "Accessible Access 2003" by Mark Whitehorn and Bill Marklyn.

This book is well written and provides very exacting details to ensure a firm understanding of Microsoft Access. I found the CD-Rom with the example files to be extremely helpful as well. This book is an excellent reference source for those just beginning Access, to those who have a more advanced grasp of Access already.

This book is perfect to learn MsAccess from scratch. It is clear, as its title says, it is step by step. Also included a CD with all the exemples required to understand and make exercises.

I knew very little about MS Access 2003 but I had to learn it for work. You could not ask for a better book to explain Access to beginners. Now I need to find a more advanced book to teach me techniques on using query and modules to edit text data that I import into Access. But this book will definitely help anyone wanting learn Access 20003 for the first time.

This book is not very concise and I suspect this to be because it's geared toward the beginner and it wants you to play with the demos that's on the included CD to see how everything all comes together. In other words, "Trial by Fire" training method is how you learn.

It does, however, give you enough input to get you into trouble and have an adequate to professional looking database. There is one thing that it doesn't do. It doesn't STRESS, enough, the importance of Outling your ideas for the way you want your database design to look, feel, and be like. That is the most important factor you are going to have to consider, first.

Plagiarizing sample databases almost, always, proves to be a "must do" in order to get your database to work like the Pro's. Maybe, plagiarizing isn't the best word to use. Oh well, too late. Have fun!