Hi Richard:
With this catastrophes that has happened in Japan, this got me thinking about how we could possibly  handle the volume of people we would have to process in the unlikely event that something like that happened here. In the normal flu clinic we have a couple hundred people, who show up to get their shots. We can process the paperwork for these people using one computer at the rate of one every 30 seconds. If we had a major problem and had to use multiple computers all running the same Access Database software and not hooked up a server. After-the-fact how could I gather all the data onto one computer? Would I be able to append the data from each computer on to the main computer, without overwriting  the data that's on it. This is certainly an interesting scenario. I guess the right phrase would be to compile all this information on to one computer.
I guess my question is, have you covered this in any of your courses? If not, can you offer any suggestions on what I might be able to do to resolve this problem.
Bob Lilly

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Reply from Richard Rost:

You could build a second "remote" database and then import the information into your primary database in the future. You'd have to build it just right, though, to avoid duplicates and messing up your relationships.

Access has a feature called Replication where you build what's called a Replica database that you can then take off to a different location, make changes (in one or both) and then merge those changes into the master database. I played around with it at length back in Access 2003 and I was unimpressed with the results.

Of course the BEST scenario would be to network your computers together and share your database (on a database server if possible). If that's not possible, you could create "data entry only" databases and then merge all of those records together into a master database at the end of the day. If each patient has a unique identifier (like a SSN or phone number) then you wouldn't have any problems with duplicates.

As with everything, it all depends on your needs.