What is Microsoft Access?
Microsoft Access is a tool that can be used for manipulating data sets so they can be used more easily. For example, if you have sales and shipping information from three different data sources you can combine them using Access! This is done by creating a "Query" that ties all of the data via a common ID number to only the information you actually need from your data sources. It's a great way to manipulate data to make it more user friendly for later use! An advantage of access is that it is very user-friendly. You don't need to know lots of coding or syntax to use it.
Why Should I Learn Access?
The easiest way to use and learn Access is through webapps.psu.edu. Visit this site and scroll until you see "Access". Log in with your PSU account and you can work on SAS for free! Keep in mind that you will be working on SAS from your Penn State account, so if you want to upload files (such as data), you will need to use webfiles.psu.edu.
How Can I Learn Access?
Here are some resources to help you learn Microsoft Access:
- Microsoft likes the users of its tools to know what they are doing, so they publish their own lessons here. It's broken down nicely by skill, making it easy to find the specific lessons you want
- Here is part one of a two part video lesson on Microsoft Access on YouTube. It only takes 2 hours to watch all of it, so next time you are thinking of watching a Netflix movie, watch this instead and pick up a new skill!
- Prefer to read rather than watch? Tutorialspoint has online text material to help you learn Access!
- Udemy has a free version of their video lectures here