I get asked this question all the time: "I want to learn Microsoft Access, but I don't know where to start. I know SOME Access, so I probably don't need the basics, but where do you recommend I start out?"
First, it's almost impossible for me to tell someone where to start without getting an in-depth understanding of what they already know. I would need to see samples of databases you've built before, or at least a very comprehensive explanation of what you know how to do. This, of course, takes time.
Second, even my most BEGINNER course (Access 101) has a lot of VERY important, fundamental concepts in it that you really need to know before moving on to the more advanced lessons. If you don't know the difference between a Long Integer and Double, then you belong in Access 101.
Just last month, I had a customer purchase all of my 300-level, advanced courses. He couldn't figure out how to get a particular form to work with a subform. It turns out he had no clue what he was doing with TABLE RELATIONSHIPS, and the underlying structure of his database was all wrong. That's because he skipped over Access 201 which covers relationship basics.
So the bottom line is this: if you're NOT SURE, start at the beginning. If you already know some Access, you may be a little bored with some of the material, but there are a lot of good, solid lessons and techniques in those beginner lessons. They're very inexpensive, so you're not going to spend an arm and a leg to make sure you're standing on a good foundation.
If you really don't want to start with Access 101, then read through the course outlines and the topic index and make sure you understand all of the concepts in each of the classes. Then you will have a better idea of which class would be best for you.
15 years ago
