Customer Reviews

Sams Teach Yourself Access 97 in 21 Days (5th Edition)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

First, I gave it a one star rating because there were no negative numbers to chose from. As an advanced developer who recommended someone learn the Access interface with this book I soon had egg on my face and quite a bit of time explaining why the books examples and teachings wouldn't work.... TYPOS and false information. The book also instructs users in techniques that I would quickly condemn in the Access support forum of which I'm a Technical Advisor. Everyone else has pointed out the specific challenges the book presents, and I LOUDLY echo those same sentiments. While some things were indeed learned from the book, I could have taught the same amount of information in less time since days wouldn't have been wasting trying to fix the really bad errors that are contained in the book.

While Access help files are notorious for some bogus information, they are clearly a step up from this book and a quick read of the help would probably be better suited to reading than this book.

Also, did anyone else notice the exact chapter when another author started? It was very obvious that the beginning of the book was written by one person (of limited knowledge and writing ability) and the latter part of the book written by another person with a better understanding of Access but, obviously both of these people were writers, not Access gurus. And maybe not even good writers either.

This is a book that should be returned for a refund if purchased.

Yes, the errors are annoying, yes the repetition of basic information is at times annoying but come on, deal with it you babies. The main reason I bought this book is because of the step by step walkthroughs. I am perfectly familiar with a computer and this allows me the benefit of skimming, which perhaps is essential to use this book to it's potential. Who cares about the typos as long as the steps are valid, and I have found them to be. This book surpasses all the available free tutorials out there on the web and I am honestly happy I got it. One caveat, you do have to be able to think imaginatively and read between the lines. If you are unable to do this, as many people are, don't buy this book. Take a class where someone can walk you through it and answer your questions. Also, the book clearly states in the beginning that it is not for beginners, but for those already familiar with basic concepts. Like so many other books out there this one is sink or swim, personally I like it. I can't believe someone wrote a negative review because it was difficult to remove the CD without damaging the back cover, how ridiculous.

I strongly disagree with all of the other reviews... I am not a beginning PC user (MCSE & CNA), but I've never had any experience with Access. Yeah, there are typos, but if you understand the exercise, you should be able to figure out what to do. I have recommended this book to several of the people that I work with in IT. The author does remind you to open the program way too many times, and the author does change at day 18 (for the worse) - I now have a very good understanding of Access, all thanks to this book.

This book is the most poorly edited book I have ever seen on any subject. It is full of errors. Please do not waste your money on it!

This book is poorly done. It has lots of errors that will confuse the beginner. It covers the basics and is easy to understand in some places, but most beginners will become frustrated do to the errors in this book, especially when Access won't do something this book says it will.

This book is good if you want to begin to really learn the software. It is clear and straightforward. It is not meant to be the final answer for this program, however, and you will need to go further to master the program

The author of this book is not dealing with difficult ideas or content, but still manages to confuse the user. This is because the language and terms he uses are not consistent and his explanations lack focus, clarity and depth.

It is possible to learn Access from this book, but the user certainly has to make a bigger effort than might be necessary if more thought had been given to the book.

A small but irritating point: it is difficult to remove the CD without damaging the back cover...

This book is good for a beginner, but with the errors that are contained in the text, the reader would need to be a more advanced user to get some things to work correctly. Most chapters leave the reader wanting more, but maybe that is asking to much of 21 day course.

I think this was a great concept for a book, but was quickly frustrated the incomplete examples in the book. The way the databases are set up, when you get to certain portions of the book, it tells you to be working with certain data that doesn't exist and doesn't tell you how to get it in there.

I returned this book about 3/4 the way through. I don't have time to correct mistakes while I learn.

This book is a good buy for the beginner. It covers areas that the other teach yourself books have not covered on Access. Mainly design issues. You may be able to create a working database, but without proper design, the pain of correcting it is intense.