13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The pictures really help., July 31, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Teach Yourself Access 97 VISUALLY (Paperback)
I have read other books on Access and other computer topics. Teach Yourself Access 97 VISUALLY is by far the best I have read. A picture is worth a thousand words, this book has 500 great pictures to really help you understand. I am looking forward to purchasing other "VISUALLY" books.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A picture is worth a thousand words, February 21, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Teach Yourself Access 97 VISUALLY (Paperback)
This is an excellent beginners' (reference) guide. It isn't written in the usual, classic teaching style, but that's the best part! I find it easier to learn sometimes when something is visualized for me, instead of reading paragraph after boring paragraph, trying to build a mental picture that doesn't always make sense.
I like the way it breaks up each technique on how to do a specific task in Access onto its own page. Each page has the title which describes which task it's teaching you, a splendid visual representation of it, and 4-5 step by step instructions that point to specific screen shots so you can follow along and also know what your screen's supposed to look like in the process -- confidence inspiring, I would say. And these graphics and screen shots are very clear, in full color, and are easy to read, unlike the usual hard to read black and white shots you see too often.
The only problem with this book is that it isn't very comprehensive or in-depth. But then again, that's the whole point: this is a beginners' book... I would say, more specifically, it's a good beginners' reference guide, because you can go to any task at any time, find the page, and learn how to do it visually. Note that this book doesn't do a spectacular job of connecting ideas and concepts for you as they are all separated onto indivual, self-contained pages. The visuals, however, will help you understand the bigger picture.
I would recommend, however, that you purchase another book to supplement this... I bought teach yourself... Access 97 <sic> (not one of those Sam's Teach Yourself in 24 hours or 21 days books), by Charles Siegel, MIS Press. It's a fairly compact yet informative guide, only 490 pages, but when you get more advanced, you should buy another book aimed at advanced users anyways. It treats the basics well, though. I like chapter 6 "Relational Databases", which, unlike other books, actually tries to explains the concept of a relational database and its elements, which is important for people who are new to the concept. Also a bargain at $25.
In conclusion: despite its minor faults, the outstanding graphics, visuals, and screen shots make this book a must-have. (In fact, I think they should extend this concept to every computing subject, and have advanced guides like this -- after all, the complex topics probably need the visualization help more than the simple topics do.) It's a bargain at that price with full color graphics and high quality paper. 5 stars.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is really good for begineers., July 29, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Teach Yourself Access 97 VISUALLY (Paperback)
I read all the reviews of other people and I bought the book from amazon.com and now as I am done with all the basic of database programming, I plan to proceed ahead. This book is very well illustrated and nicely put together, it helped me develope a lot of skills and knowledge about database from the most simple to use language, Access. If you are new to database programming, I suggest that you try this book first and then move on to different books. It helped me and It should help you. Good Luck.
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