Creating  
an Access Database:  
A Primer for Resource Center Managers   

 by   
Laura C. Larsson


Present and Future Considerations

Comments

Now that you've created a database, here are some things to think about for the future. 

This database was designed to meet very specific needs for managing a small serials collection in the Health Services Information Center at the University of Washington. It is one woman's view of how to create an Access database.  This database may not necessarily meet your needs. 

The database is relatively untested. You should always consider a new database unfinished and in dire need of more work, lots of work. Plan to spend several months testing any newly designed database extensively. Keep good backups of the database because if you change tables or entity relationship diagrams, you may affect how the database works. 

Add more data to the database, about 25 records, and test it every way you can think of. Use your own journals. Write new queries and create reports. When you get familiar with using Access, try a macro or two. 

Lastly, show this database to your systems or IS person and ask for her help if you run into problems with the database. IS folks are usually more than happy to help you with database problems. They have been educated about the structure and capabilities of databases and they enjoy the challenge of making databases work. 
 
And keep backing up your data.  

For More Information  

For more information on Access Databases go to the references section. 
 
 


Next: Exporting Access Data to Excel

Back: Generating a Report


Table of Contents | References and Resources | Glossary
Page Updated: June 21, 1998

URL:  http://weber.u.washington.edu/~larsson/conf/aiha98/primer/future.htm