I'm doing some part-time work for my mother's office and she needs a database
consisting of students in her program, what classes they need to graduate,
the classes they have taken, and their personal inforamtion.  I'm very new to
Access, so I'm a little lost here.  Can anyone help me get started?  Thanks

Contact me at my email address below. I can help you.

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the first step in creating a database is to turn off your computer. you need
to sit down with pencil and paper, and model your process, identifying
entities and their characteristics and how they relate to each other. from
there, you can structure your tables/relationships. i strongly recommend you
read up on table normalization and relationships. one good manual is
Database Design for Mere Mortals by Michael Hernandez, and you can also
google table normalization - there are lots of resources on the web.

once you've planned out the database structure, you're ready to start
building. if you're unfamiliar with the Access software, an excellent
reference is Microsoft Access <version> Bible by Prague and Irwin. it will
guide you through all the basics of building tables, queries, forms, reports
and macros to end up with a functional database, and you'll have a solid
foundation of knowledge on which to build more advanced skills.

if you take the time to learn the basics first, especially table
normalization/relationships, you'll find that you can build a simple
database to meet your needs fairly easily. it can also be a lot of fun.

here are some helpful links, as you get started:

http://www.mvps.org/access/tencommandments.htm

http://www.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm

http://www.mvps.org/access/general/gen0012.htm

and suggest you bookmark this one:

http://www.mvps.org/access/

you can always post here in the newsgroups for help with specific problems
or questions, as you work on your database. good luck.

hth


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Some unwelcome news:  Access has a fairly steep learning curve.  You're best
bet is to get one or more of the "getting started" books to begin to get a
feel for it.  Be patient with yourself and understand that the first thing
you do may later look like it needs redone.

Some good news:  If you persist and learn and persist and learn you'll
become a proficient developer and can even make a good living at it.

It is educational to lurk these newsgroups, for starters, this one and
microsoft.public.access.tablesdesign.

When you do get started, post into the relevant newsgroup with your issue
always giving your OS, version of Access and describe what it is you're
trying to do and what the current problem is.

HTH
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