Sams Teach Yourself Access 97 in 21 Days (5th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: if your IQ is less than a house plant this book is for you!
Review: I strongly disagree with all of the other reviews... I am not a beginning PC user (MCSE & CNA), but I've never had any experience with Access. Yeah, there are typos, but if you understand the exercise, you should be able to figure out what to do. I have recommended this book to several of the people that I work with in IT. The author does remind you to open the program way too many times, and the author does change at day 18 (for the worse) - I now have a very good understanding of Access, all thanks to this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for the beginner
Review: I strongly disagree with all of the other reviews... I am not a beginning PC user (MCSE & CNA), but I've never had any experience with Access. Yeah, there are typos, but if you understand the exercise, you should be able to figure out what to do. I have recommended this book to several of the people that I work with in IT. The author does remind you to open the program way too many times, and the author does change at day 18 (for the worse) - I now have a very good understanding of Access, all thanks to this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy it!
Review: Many of the reviews on this page already address the plethora of errors contained within the pages of this book, so I will not do so. However, I wish to address the fact that this book, although meant for beginners, is one of the most infantile pieces of work I have ever encountered in computer manuals. The authors assume that ignorance of Access is synonymous with ignorance in general! Constantly, the authors feel the need to tell the reader that BEFORE attempting the exercise, Access must be started - they then proceed to explain how this can be accomplished (START menu, click on Access, etc.) I suppose Cassel and Eddy are the type of people who themselves need to be told to turn their computers on before attempting to use it. If you want to learn Access, then do yourself a favor and look for another book -- if, on the other hand, you enjoy being treated like a dumb pet being taught how to play dead, then this book was written for you!

Rating:
Summary: Good beginners book
Review: This book is a good buy for the beginner. It covers areas that the other teach yourself books have not covered on Access. Mainly design issues. You may be able to create a working database, but without proper design, the pain of correcting it is intense.

Rating:
Summary: Go ahead and buy it, unless you're a baby...
Review: Yes, the errors are annoying, yes the repetition of basic information is at times annoying but come on, deal with it you babies. The main reason I bought this book is because of the step by step walkthroughs. I am perfectly familiar with a computer and this allows me the benefit of skimming, which perhaps is essential to use this book to it's potential. Who cares about the typos as long as the steps are valid, and I have found them to be. This book surpasses all the available free tutorials out there on the web and I am honestly happy I got it. One caveat, you do have to be able to think imaginatively and read between the lines. If you are unable to do this, as many people are, don't buy this book. Take a class where someone can walk you through it and answer your questions. Also, the book clearly states in the beginning that it is not for beginners, but for those already familiar with basic concepts. Like so many other books out there this one is sink or swim, personally I like it. I can't believe someone wrote a negative review because it was difficult to remove the CD without damaging the back cover, how ridiculous.

Rating:
Summary: Go ahead and buy it, unless you're a baby...
Review: Yes, the errors are annoying, yes the repetition of basic information is at times annoying but come on, deal with it you babies. The main reason I bought this book is because of the step by step walkthroughs. I am perfectly familiar with a computer and this allows me the benefit of skimming, which perhaps is essential to use this book to it's potential. Who cares about the typos as long as the steps are valid, and I have found them to be. This book surpasses all the available free tutorials out there on the web and I am honestly happy I got it. One caveat, you do have to be able to think imaginatively and read between the lines. If you are unable to do this, as many people are, don't buy this book. Take a class where someone can walk you through it and answer your questions. Also, the book clearly states in the beginning that it is not for beginners, but for those already familiar with basic concepts. Like so many other books out there this one is sink or swim, personally I like it. I can't believe someone wrote a negative review because it was difficult to remove the CD without damaging the back cover, how ridiculous.