Customer Reviews

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Access 2000 in 10 Minutes

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

 

 

This book is great for two types of people:

1) Experts who like to jump right into a project and figure it out as they go along rather than plodding through too much detail in a big pedantic reference book.

2) Those who are complete novices and need a simple step-by-step guide to getting started using Access.

I am in the 1st category. I didn't want to use the standard database wizards that were available, but I was daunted by being presented with a blank database and not knowing where to start. This book takes you step-by-step from start to finish of a basic database, complete with forms, reports, and web links. It is exceptionally well written and, while basic, manages to throw in lots of useful tips along the way.

The author, Faithe Wempen, has a wonderfully concise and very readable writing style that makes following the material a joy. The chapters are well laid out and presented in just the right order so that new material is presented exactly where you expect it to be. There is little need to search ahead to find what you are looking for (except to skip the chapter on how to use the "Help" system, undoubtedly added for the novice user :-).

Another nice feature is that the author spends a lot of time getting you familiar with the buttons and menus, and always shows you 3-4 ways to do any particular task. The illustrations are wonderfully clear without being in any way flashy or distracting. Overall, a fantastic guide to getting started!

Now, that having been said, you need to know that this is NO reference book and is not intended to be. It is a small, thin <1/2" soft cover book that gets you started and creating right away. For this reason, I think that anyone buying this book will also need to invest in a larger reference book such as Alison Balter's much loved "Mastering Microsoft Access 2000 Development." or Roger Jennings' similarly acclaimed "Special Edition Using Microsoft Access 2000."

This book is my introduction to Microsoft Access and it is extremely helpful. The terms are basic and easy to understand, and the chapters are well written with to-the-point descriptions about Access functions. This is the ideal "Access for first-timers" book, and I recommend it to anyone who is an Access novice. The chapters are designed to be read in about ten minutes, which is great for people with limited time.

This obviously is a quick shot in the arm of Access 2000. No great amounts of detail or long tutorials to wade through, but quick simple lessons to help you understand how to use Access. This would be a good book as a substitute for a 600-700 page book if all you want is the basics, and then be able to move onto something that describes itself as more than a beginners manual. I am following this book up with 'Creating Access 2000 solutions, a guide for power users' by Gordon Patwick, so far the two seem to be the solution to my problem.

This could have been a five star little intro to Microsoft Access but the editor failed to have one person try to follow the book from start to finish. Extremely important information (like the data you need in the tables to complete future assignments) is missing. I had to skip ahead several chapters and based on screenshots fill-in some limited info so I could sort-of continue following the book. In it's current condition the book is not worth buying.