Project- Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a very useful tool in the business environment, but one that I have never had a lot of experience with. I think this project helped me learn many things that I can take with me in my future career. It wasn't an extremely complicated project but one that made me go through the general aspects of Access so I could understand how all of the data are connected. The table activity showed me that I need to be aware of different "date formats" when trying to modify it. I realized the dates for "Date Left" were all in text format when they should've been in date format. The form creation taught me about how forms are created for the common person to enter data and how it should be made as easy as possible as to avoid confusion. The Query activity showed me that you can pull a very specific set of data and organize it as well. The report activity required me to take the query that I created and make a report out of it. This showed me the obvious reasons access has been vital to a company's core record keeping, because the information can be obtained and organized easily. Further, it can be put in a format that is easy to understand for people who are in charge of making decisions within a company. 


Maybe some additions to the database would include a form for exit memberships. In the instructions it was shown that the date for the end of the membership wasn't necessary because you can't fill out information on someone who is signing up and include the date they ended it as well. I do agree with that but there needs to be an easy way to modify this information about an exiting member through another easy-to-use form. Maybe include some other information on the exit form such as the reason they decided to leave. Another modification is to include more information on the new membership form. Simply filling in a postal address doesn't seem to keep up with the times. It would be nice to have such information as an email address or a phone number so these people can be contacted through other ways than regular snail mail. Another category could be "How did you hear about us?" this can be used for obvious reasons so that marketing decisions can be made to possibly increase membership.