Microsoft Access 2010 Step by Step

Good beginner overview for Access.

I've been buying the Access step by step books going back to Access 97, and I think this new edition is better organized than previous editions, especially the last edition for Access 2007.Each chapter includes hands-on exercises, which is the best way to learn Access. The practice files are now downloaded from a Web site instead of on a CD. I would rather have the CD, but once you download the practice files you have what you need to work with the book.I initially had a problem with the link to get the practice files and didn't get a helpful reply from Microsoft Customer Service, but Steve Weiss, Associate Publisher of O'Reilly Media / Microsoft Press was very helpful with the problem. Thank you Steve! I've found the link in the book does work now (it's on page xxiii).I recommend this book to anyone looking for an introduction to Access 2010. Doing the hands-on exercises will give you the essential skills you need to work with an existing Access database and create a database of your own. This book does not cover advanced topics like macros and VBA programming. But if you would like to continue with a more advanced book, this book gives you a good foundation.

This book is well laid out and easy to follow. This is my second Step by Step book on access. I bought it for Access 95 years ago and that one helped me to the point I was able to overcome the initial and common barriers to learning Access. I have not had to use access to create anything from the ground up for about five years so I thought this would be a good refresh for Access 2010. I tend to read these books from cover to cover and go through all the examples. I find this is the only way to get the best benefit from them. This book is no exception to that rule although using a specific chapter to conquer a concept is probably fine. Great book, it will get you launched into access and help you get through the changes since V2003.

I purchased both this Step by Step book and The Missing Manual for Access 2010. I found The Missing Manual engaging and informative while the Step by Step manual simply presented the steps needed for actions and was therefore very dry.The Missing Manual also dealt with design theory and aspects of creating good database design, while the Step by Step manual did not (and even acknowledged that it would not). Since good database design is both art and science and extremely important for the life of the project, nothing strikes me as more important than communicating how best to design the database that the beginning user will be building, so I count this as a most serious lack.The text was clear, and the steps accurately presented, although with too many words and not enough illustrations to effectively demonstrate what was being discussed.

This is really great for an all around overview of what you can do with Access. I use about half of the concepts regularly, and this book is a nice support for getting your bearings. For the other stuff in Access I don’t use, this is where I’d look to learn about how to get started.

I originally bought this subject on my kindle, but I found that it was too dificult to flip back and forth on a kinle. I bought the paperback bersion and found that this is the proper way to brouse a technical multi-referal subject. It is a good book, well written, however I feel that it could have been done with more color as much of what we see in access is color oriented--at least it is for me.

Good for learning basics, which was probably the intent of the authors. Probably another book would be required to go more in-depth. In fact, three or more books wouldn't be bad so a person could have multiple references (authors explain things in different ways), and you need as much help with databases as possible...they are not a piece-of-cake.

This book really is step-by-step, and I have found it immensely helpful in getting a fundamental understanding of Access 2010.Moreover, an added surprise was that I bought the Kindle edition, not sure as to how good or bad this might be relative to the exercises.Well, let me tell you, it is a WHOLE LOT EASIER to work through the exercises with the Kindle than it is with a regular book, which is always somewhat cumbersom, but not cumbersom at all with the Kindle.And the Kindle edition costs about half as much as the hard copy.

Exactly whaat says on the box, but for the basics only.I bought this book after I realised that Excel has it's limits and Access is far superior in so many ways for storing and entering data in the work environment. I had used Access about 8 years ago and I needed a little reminder of how things worked.Because of my background knowledge I did find a lot of it stuff I already knew but I found that I had to start from the beginning because I found that although I understood the concepts I often couldn't grasp the instructions because I did not understand the terminology. I do not think this is a pitfall of the book just a disadvantage when you learn things yourself by trial and error.Do not expect any enjoyment from this book aside from the joy of what you learn. It is written in a no nonsense style but if you are willing to hack through it is worth it.I would definitely recommend this for the complete beginner and very casual user of access. However I would look for something more advanced if you are already comfortable using relationships and creating basic form and need ideas about how you can connect your database to websites you have created and stand alone forms.

Nice book and easy to follow. Access is harder than excel to learn but worth the trouble. It is best if you have a project in mind to practice on after you complete the training files. Personally I would advise learning Excel first as it is a nice stepping stone as the formulae are similar. Also you can build a simple relational model using pivot tables or Power Pivot. Excel is fast becoming a one stop shop for everything so you can easily implement a simple database. Pay close attention to Normalisation forms which are crucial in Access.but can be bodged through Excel.

I read a comment pointing out that the book is too 'simplistic', and so it is. But, for the serious user of Access, there are other books which treat the subject in much greater depth. I certainly use Access regularly, for keeping track of a (large) collection of DVD titles - this is a flat database that could have been held in Excel, I suppose - the others apply to my (perhaps larger) music collection, this being a relational database. I find the 'Step by Step' books to be easy to follow, and useful up to a point. You have to bear in mind that the books are written to cater for those who just need to learn about something, but not in any depth. In this regard, they succeed very well.

At best I had a sketchy knowledge of Access and needed to learn it properly and quickly for a skills test in five days time!I've had these step by step guides before (Word and Excel) and found them very useful so I knew exactly where to go in a rush.I like this product because the chapters are written in plain, easy to understand English but the really helpful thing is that you can practise on real documents instead of trying to make up your own. It's one thing understanding the written word, it's another thing doing it in the real world.For me that's what these step by step guides do, explain and retain. I was so grateful I felt like writing a letter to the author but the skills test and interview got in the way and of course, I forgot. I hope Joan Lambert gets this message though and if she does, a very big thank you Joan.

I wanted something that covered the very basics up to quite complicated Databases, this fits the bill perfectly.You have to download the exercises but you can also download it as a free e-book.Ignore the websites suggested at the beginning of the book as they take you to the wrong website, you need the O'Reilly press one,which is near the very back. Easy to follow examples that help you build your confidence.Obviously, it isn't for professional Database writers but if you want to write something for home use ie: record or film collections with a user friendly front end then this is the book for you.