Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Access 2000 in 21 Days [With Code, Samples & Material Needed for Book Examples]

This is by far the best resource that I have found for learning how to use Microsoft Access. I started with basically no Access knowledge and was able to learn enough to design a very complex, completely user friendly database for my department. This book is perfect for the raw beginner to intermediate Access user. While no one Access book can cover everything this book does an amazing job giving a very solid look at the fundamentals, very efficiently. It uses a logical 21 day progression to teach Access in a useful way with an excellent CD of sample databases included that you can copy to your hard drive. The examples are great and the practice exercises are thoughtfully laid out and really help you to understand the concepts. There is even a very helpful introduction to advanced topics such as SQL and Visual Basic. Finally, I recently paid $300 for a two day course in Access and learned about 10 times more in two days of reading this $30 book.

This is a great hands-on book covering most aspects of MS Access. After looking over several other books, I found this one the easiest to read and use, especially for busy professionals who are computer-savvy but who aren't familiar with Access. It's organized in a way that makes it easy to pick up and learn the one specific task that you need to tackle, or you can read it cover-to-cover like a course.I don't know why the reviews are so negative. No one book can cover everything in Access, but even advanced topics such as VBA and SQL are given decent overviews - and the author gives good recommendations on where to turn for more info.In the end, computer books are a matter of personal preference, and everybody has their own style. This one gets my vote.

I was a little shocked to see the average review for this was a 2...I am an aspiring database designer. One has to start somewhere, so I set off to learn Access. I had already tried the O'Reilly books (too much) and the Dummies books (too little). I found the Sam's book to be a good middle ground for someone who knows a little about computers, but mostly knows that they need to learn a lot more. The Sam's gives a good general overview about Access queries, forms and reports. It walks you through the program in a logical order, in a realistic length of time. It has a good introduction to Access SQL and VBA. It remains one of my primary resources for Access. If there is a failing to the Sam's Access, it's that it needs more real world examples (it has some, but it could use more). For that, buy the O'Reilly Access Cookbook.

I just started using Access and I was suffering my way through a huge book on Access and not getting anywhere. Then I purchased SAMs Teach Yourself Microsoft Access in 21 Days and I felt like I had the world in my hands. This book is fabulous and it's so well written that you can actually cover three days in the book in one day. It starts out giving you excellent examples of what Access can do and then breaking down the steps. It shows you the logic behind good table technique and gives you great examples of logical thinking and heads-up development. I'm very happy with this book and thankful that I found it. Toni

I had MS Access on my computers for 4 years and could not figure out what to do with this application or how to learn it without going to school.Then I bought the Teach Yourself Access by Paul Cassel. With a disciplined routine of 5-6 hours perday and following the author's instructions line by line, I was able to design databases by the 10th day.I think Paul Cassel needs to be complimented for writing a logical, simple and very useful book.If in his latest edition he has eliminated some chapeters on Table design, then he should re-insert them.The primary goal of this book must always remain to take a total novice who is interested in data base design and in 21 days turn him/her into a programmer who is very comfortable with using MS Access. Two years ago this book did that for me in half the number of days.I thoroughly recommend this book to beginners.Saeed Anwar