Introduction to Microsoft Access

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Introduction to Microsoft Access

• A New Way to Organize Data

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Organizing Data in an Information Age

• We are inundated with a proliferation of
  information
• Some is useful
• Most is not
• In order to be effective with all of the data, we
  must build structures which will help us keep
  track of all of our information

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Consider Certain Data Systems

• Tracking a checking account
• Tracking your bills
• Tracking your business expenses
• Tracking your tax deductible expenditures
• Keeping the vast amounts of data that we deal
  with organized is critical for the success of any
  system!

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So we try to organize the data the best we know
how...
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So Why Not Just Put It All onSpread Sheets?
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Using a Spreadsheet Is an Effective Way to Store
and Organize Data ...

• But, consider a business budget
• 50 expense items
• Over 12 months
• Across 7 years (minimum)
• Equals 4200 data elements all being tracked on
  one workbook!
• Very difficult to organize and control

A
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Student Data ExampleWhat Kind of Data Does the
School Track About You?

• Name
• Address
• Social Security Number
• Telephone
• Financial Aid
• Clubs

• Major
• Classes
• Grades
• GPA
• Transfer student?
• Car
• Tickets
• Etc.

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If We Were to Place All of This Information Into
a Spread Sheet, It Would Look Like This...
Notice that some data is duplicated?
Is that a problem?
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YES!

• Any time you allow a human being to enter data,
  you run the risk of data error
• Any time you allow duplicate data to exist in a
  system, you run the risk of any one data element
  being wrong
• Plus... Multiple occurrences of data require you
  to find all occurrences any time any one
  occurrence is changed!

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The Problem Is Called Data Redundancy

• The goal of the data analyst (thats you) is to
  reduce the amount of redundant data as much as
  possible
• The word that refers to this reduction is called
  the normalization of the data

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We refer to 4 Normal forms

• 1st Normal Form - Gather all data into one place
• 2nd Normal Form - Some organization of data
• 3rd Normal Form - Elimination of redundancy as
  much as Reasonable
• 4th Normal Form - Elimination of All data
  redundancy

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Zero Data Redundancy Adversely Impacts System
Performance
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Does This Mean ThatSpreadsheets Are Bad?
Not at all...

• It depends on the application.
• If you are dealing with smaller amounts of data,
  then spread sheets are fine.
• But not if...
• You are dealing with large amounts of data, or
• Your data requires different formats or...
• Your data requires certain reporting or...
• Your data has a lot of repetition.

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How Does Access and Excel Compare?
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Access Operates on Lists of Data Called Tables

• They can look a lot like mini spread sheets.
• These tables can then be linked or related
  together by joining common data elements.
• That is why access is called a relational data
  base or RDB.

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Similar kinds of data can be grouped into
separate lists which can then be linked with
relations!
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Access Data Bases are made of up four
components...
Data Out
Data In
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These Work Together to Provide the Data BASE

• Data is stored in tables
• Tables can be reorganized in queries
• Views
• No effect on original data
• Data entry can be controlled using forms
• Stylized reports can be created using reports

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In other words...
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Lets Get Started!

• All Machines Up, Get to Desk Top!