Of all the programs in the Microsoft Office suite, Microsoft Access is the one that most intimidates people. "Mastering Microsoft Excel or Word was hard enough," they think. "How can I ever understand a complicated program like Access?" While it's true that Microsoft Access has many advanced features (there are computer consultants whose only job is programming Access databases), creating and working with a Microsoft Access database is probably a whole lot easier than you think.
With that in mind, this tutorial is your introduction to Microsoft Access and the world of databases. In this tutorial you will learn more about exactly what a database is, what it is used for, and how to perform simple database tasks, such as adding and deleting records. This tutorial also takes you on a basic tour of various parts of a Microsoft Access database: Tables, Forms, Reports, and Queries. If you have worked with one of the other Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Excel or Word, you will find that you already know a lot about the concepts covered in this tutorial. And so, without further ado, turn the page and take your first step into the world of databases.