Access Fundamentals

Businesses, organizations and individuals worldwide use the Microsoft Access database management system to track multiple, inter-related sets of data, organize the data in tables, and generate reports to analyze the data. 

This Access Fundamentals class will teach you to use the core data management features of Access in order to make faster and more effective business decisions. Access Fundamentals will prepare you to design an Access database which is best suited to your business needs, streamline the process of entering new information by creating user-friendly data entry forms, and query the data to derive meaningful answers to critical business questions. 

This course draws heavily on real-world examples which will give you exposure to the complex database management problems Access users face, and will equip you to make the best use of Access right away.

Getting Started with Access

• Navigate using the Navigation Pane and the Access Ribbon toolbar.
• Understand Access terminology for databases, tables, records, and fields.
• Identify the uses of various objects in Access such as a Query or a Macro.

Designing the Database

• Design tables best suited to the purpose of your database.
• Implement consistent and logical naming conventions to make your database easier for others to use.
• Harness existing templates to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

Entering Data and Managing Records

• Use database table fields to quickly find and edit records.
• Add captions to provide additional information useful for data entry.
• Create validation rules and input masks for searchable and accurate records.
• Employ "wildcards" to generate meaningful results on even the most difficult searches.

Using Queries Effectively

• Retrieve and display a set of database records based on any number of criteria.
• Use the Query Wizard for faster, easier query creation, or code powerful queries using Structured Query Language.
• Refine the set of results by modifying, saving or restoring previous queries.
• Perform global updates and calculations on query results.

Generating Meaningful Reports

• Build custom reports which communicate the data and support business decision making.
• Modify a report's design while viewing the data for optimal visual effect.
• Preview a report and modify the page layout as needed for printing.

Prerequisites:

• A solid understanding of Windows file management, the concepts of right-clicking and selecting object properties