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Microsoft Access and Relational Database related Books & Reading material

Wanting to learn more about Microsoft Access or Relational Database Design and not knowing where to start. The books reviewed below are a recommended starting point, or you will find reviews and links to various Access and Database related reading material throughout the page.

Some of the books listed below I have read, and some have been recommended by other users - hopefully these may give you the knowledge that you require.

Please choose an area or book from the list below:

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General User
A complete range of books for the General User... From Novice to Expert, everything you're ever likely to need and more.
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Casual User
These days, information is the key to success in any endeavor, and powerful database systems make managing and storing data easier.
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Intermediate User
Whether you're a database administrator who works with Access databases or a developer who wants to create powerful database front ends, these books gives you the edge.
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Advanced User
Learn how to build more efficient databases, design better user interfaces, develop client/server applications, and plan for interoperability.
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Highly Recommended Reading
Database Design For Mere Mortals - Michael J. Hernandez

Database Design For Mere Mortals

Relational databases are powerful tools for organizing data, but learning to use them effectively can be painful. Relational Database Design for Mere Mortals explains the concepts of relational-database design in an easy-to-digest fashion that covers both the theoretical underpinnings and their practical implications. Hernandez covers all the basics - table and field structure, keys, relationships, business rules, and more - but always keeps his feet on the ground with advice for real-world implementations and a particularly strong section on analyzing your current database infrastructure.

Reviewed by Carol >> This is the most helpful book I have ever read in sorting out the complexities of relational database design. Most books tell you how to use the software but not the basics of design. I was able to put together a fairly complex database - and my relationships work - just by using this book!

Reviewed by A Reader >> This book is brilliant. It's clearly written, has loads of information and is the ideal primer for anyone starting to study relational databases. There is no waffle about Normal Forms and BCF, just simple common sense to put you on the right path.

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Database Design For Mere Mortals - Michael J. Hernandez - Second Edition

Database Design For Mere Mortals - Second Edition

The bestselling book on database design is now fully updated and revised!

Presents a platform-independent tutorial to the basic principles of relational database design, written in a down-to-earth jargon-free style.

Uses a hands-on approach with practical examples that provides database developers with common-sense design techniques and best practices.

Reviewed by A Reader >> I knew very little about designing a database before reading this book. The author gives you a step by step method on how to make a complete relational database design. The advices he gives for conducting interviews are very good. Even with 480 pages it's a really quick read. If you are interested in database design I recommend that you buy it. You won't be disapointed!

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SQL Queries For Mere Mortals - Michael J. Hernandez

SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL

To the people who are accomplished in its use, Structured Query Language (SQL) is a highly capable, eminently flexible, even beautiful way of describing the data that you want from a database, or the changes that you want to make to a database. For the rest of us, however, SQL is a first-class nuisance that we do our best to avoid by relying on relatively user-friendly--but usually less powerful--tools. SQL Queries for Mere Mortals aims to bring SQL-phobes closer to the first camp by tutoring them carefully in what SQL can do.

The authors recognize that SQL queries usually come about as a result of questions from human beings, and so usefully spend a fair bit of time showing how to convert, say, "In what cities do our customers live?" into, "Select city from the customers table" and, finally, "SELECT city FROM customers" in SQL. They call this the "translation and clean up" process, and it's a fine approach. They don't press it too far, however, and are equally adept at presenting straight explanations of SQL syntax elements in prose. They spend a lot of energy graphically diagramming aspects of SQL syntax in a format that requires some up-front study. A particular reader might prefer text capsules to this arrow-intensive format, but other learners might like the graphical syntax diagrams.

Topics covered: ANSI SQL/92 for people who need to use it to make queries against business databases. The authors introduce one or two syntax elements at a time--SELECT, WHERE, JOIN, UNION, and so on--and cover data extraction, data insertion, filtering, joins, calculations, and other capabilities of generic SQL.

An Invaluable Resource, October 11, 2001
Reviewer: J.J. Kwashnak from Atlanta, GA
I sat down with this book as I tried to bring myself up to speed on working with database design and operation. After reading the "companion" Database Design for Mere Mortals, I tackled SQL Queries for Mere Mortals. While some of the beginning was redundant, it popped me into buiding SQL queries with a ton of examples and hands on exercises. Slowly building your knowledge and allowing you to see how the pieces can stand alone or interlock in the syntax, you are given more and more specific examples to help understand the concept.

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Access 2000 Developers Handbook

Access 2000 Developer's Handbook

Written for Access 2000 developers, this set consists of two volumes which deliver expanded coverage on the most challenging topics. Included are two CDs which contain sample code from both books, ready to be modified or reused as is.

The definitive reference manuals on Access, May 9, 2001
Reviewer >> from Australia
I never thought a better reference book on Access would ever be written after the Access 97 Developer's Handbook. Well, I was wrong.

As a professional developer who has been using Access since version 2, this is the best reference available apart from the help files themselves. And it is better organised than meets the eye!

A serious developer should not let their shelf stand empty of this set. It is certainly not for the Access beginner, though, covering many technical aspects of Access that will be daunting to users just starting out with it. What many people don't realise is that MS-Access is an immensely complex and intriguing piece of software, with practically limitless possibilities. These books are a real help in leveraging these possibilities.

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