For courses in Microsoft Office Professional for Windows and Access for Windows. Essentials courseware is anchored in the practical and professional needs of all types of students. The series has been completely revamped as the result of extensive usability testing conducted by students with multiple levels of computer knowledge. The Essentials series is conceived as a "learning system" that combines graphics, instructions, experience, reinforcement, and problem solving. It consists of modular lessons that are built around a series of numbered, step-by-step procedures that are clear, concise, and easy to review. Explanatory material is interwoven before each lesson and between the steps. Additional features, tips, pitfalls, and other related information are provided at exactly the right place. They are easily recognizable elements that stand out from the main flow of the tutorial. Icons are designed to match the Microsoft Office theme. The end-of-chapter exercises have been carefully graded from the routine Checking Concepts and Terms to tasks in the Discovery Zone that gently prod students into extending what theyve learned into areas beyond the explicit scope of the lessons proper. Substantial Focus On Learning and How To Learn. * Guided use of onscreen Help within lessons and end-of-project exercises. * Helps students "learn to learn" on their own to keep up with the ever-expanding feature set of Microsoft Office. Shows them how to discover the right procedures or answers by exploiting the many resources that are already within the application. Hands-On Exercises: Expanded into Three Levels. * Skill Drill exercises-Reinforce project skills. Each skill that is reinforced is the same, or nearly the same, as a skill presented in the project. Detailed instructions are provided in a step-by-step format. * Enables students to check their comprehension, evaluate their progress, and practice what theyve learned. * Challenge exercises-Expand upon or are related to skills presented in the lessons. Each exercise provides a brief narrative introduction, followed by instructions in a numbered step format that are not as detailed as those in the Skill Drill section. Some contain references for students to apply tips discussed in Nice to Know, Need to Know, or Help. * Helps students learn to think on their own and fosters the "near transfer" of learning. * Discovery Zone exercises-Require advanced knowledge of topics presented in Essentials lessons, the application of skills from multiple lessons, or self-directed learning of new skills. Some contain references for students to apply tips discussed in Nice to Know, Need to Know, or Help. * Emulates real-world experience by encouraging self-directed learning of new skills. Beginning of the Project. * Objectives-Specific topics covered in the lessons. * Gives students short-term, attainable goals for each project. * Key Terms-New terminology defined and discussed in the project. * Helps students to become familiar with the terminology used. * Why Would I Do This?-Introductory section telling students why a project is useful to them. * Shows students why a project is useful to them and what they can do with the knowledge they obtain. * Visual Summary-Screen shots and sample documents to illustrate what students will learn in the project. * Illustrates the concepts and features students will learn in the project and helps to keep them motivated. Lessons. * Lessons-Projects broken down into lessons that correspond with objectives. * Gives students the project broken down into lessons that correspond with objectives. * Step-by-Step Instructions-Instructions, along with explanation, to guide students as they learn new features. * Guides students as they learn new features, and lets them "learn-by-doing." * If You Have Problems- Trouble-shooting tips that anticipate common pitfalls. * Helps students anticipate or solve common problems quickly and effectively. * Need to Know-Essential notes and information necessary to apply features. * Provides students with essential tips for performing the task and using the application more effectively. * Nice to Know-Additional tips to become more proficient in using the software. * Provide students with extra tips, shortcuts, alternative ways to complete a process, and special hints about using the software. Checking Concepts and Terms. * True/False Questions -With reference to lesson where topic is covered. * Multiple Choice Questions-With reference to lesson where topic is covered. * Screen ID-Where students identify elements of the screen and within documents. * Discussion Questions-That make students apply critical-thinking skills to further understand concepts and features. * Helps students check their comprehension and assess their retention.

Table of Contents:
PROJECT 1: MAKING DATA ENTRY EASIER AND MORE ACCURATE. Lesson 1: Creating Consistent Data Formats. Lesson 2: Creating Conditional Formats for Positive, Negative, and Null Values. Lesson 3: Changing the Data Input Structure Using Input Masks. Lesson 4: Restricting Entries to Those That Meet Validation Criteria. Lesson 5: Requiring Entry of Necessary Information. Lesson 6: Preventing Duplicate Entries Using Indexed Fields. Lesson 7: Creating a Lookup Column to Allow Selection from a List. PROJECT 2: MANAGING DATA USING SMALLER, RELATED TABLES. Lesson 1: Designing Related Tables to Hold Repetitive Data. Lesson 2: Defining the Relationship Between the Tables. Lesson 3: Creating Queries That Draw Data from Both Tables. Lesson 4: Automatically Filling in Data from One of the Joined Tables. Lesson 5: Updating Tables by Entering or Deleting Data in the Query. Lesson 6: Finding Duplicate Records in an Existing Table. PROJECT 3: ADDING USEFUL FEATURES TO YOUR FORMS. Lesson 1: Adding Formats in the Form Design View. Lesson 2: Selecting Entries from a List. Lesson 3: Looking Up Valid Entries from a Table or Query. Lesson 4: Using a Information from a Query to Fill in Fields Automatically. Lesson 5: Entering the Current Date in a Field Automatically. Lesson 6: Adding the Current Date and Time to a Form Automatically. Lesson 7: Changing the Tab Order. Lesson 8: Creating Subforms. Lesson 9: Printing the Form for Filing Purposes. PROJECT 4: SPECIAL PURPOSE REPORTS AND ADVANCED REPORTS FEATURES. Lesson 1: Creating Labels for Mailings. Lesson 2: Creating Calculated Fields in a Report. Lesson 3: Grouping and Sorting Data in a Report. Lesson 4: Keeping Grouped Data Together in Reports. Lesson 5: Adding Calculated Fields to Group Headers and Footers. PROJECT 5: AUTOMATING YOUR DATABASE WITH MACROS. Lesson 1: Creating a Macro to Open a Form in Edit Mode. Lesson 2: Creating a Macro to Open a Form in Add Mode. Lesson 3: Creating a Macro to Open a Form in the Read-only Mode. Lesson 4: Creating a Macro to Open a Report in Preview View. Lesson 5: Creating a Macro to Close a Form. Lesson 6: Running a Macro from a Button on a Form. Lesson 7: Creating a Switchboard Forms. Lesson 8: Creating a Macro to Automatically Launch the Main Switchboard Form. PROJECT 6: MANAGING YOUR DATABASES WITH SPECIAL ACTION QUERIES AND DATABASE UTILITES. Lesson 1: Making Backup Copies of Your Data. Lesson 2: Saving an Access 2000 Database as an Access 97 Database. Lesson 3: Compacting and Repairing Files for Efficient Storage. Lesson 4: Using Detect and Repair to Fix Access Problems. Lesson 5: Generating a Query That Creates an Archive Table. Lesson 6: Modifying the Archive Setup Query to Delete Records from a Table. Lesson 7: Creating a Query to Append Records to an Archive Table. Lesson 8: Creating a Macro to Run Two Queries. PROJECT 7: USING ACCESS ON THE WEB AND LINKING TO OTHER DOCUMENTS. Lesson 1: Adding Hyperlinks from Forms to Word Documents. Lesson 2: Adding Hyperlinks from Forms to Excel Spreadsheets. Lesson 3: Saving Database Objects as Static HTML Pages. Lesson 4: Viewing HTML Pages on a Local Drive Using a Browser. Lesson 5: Editing HTML Pages in WordPad. Glossary. Task Guide. Index.