A database is a program that allows easy access, retrieval, and use of data. A database management system, like Access, allows you to use a computer to:

• create a database
• add, change, and delete data in the database
• sort the data in the database
• retrieve data in the database
• create forms and reports using the data in the database

A database is a collection of data which is organized in a manner that can be easily retrieved. They consist of fields, records, and files, much like a phone book. A field is a single piece of information (your last name is one field); a record is one complete set of fields (your entry in the phone book is a record); and a file is a collection of records (the entire phone book). When you look at the phone book for someone's phone number, you search for the phone book database.

Databases, like Access, are used to store large quantities of information. The information can be viewed, sorted, manipulated, retrieved, and printed in various ways. The database give you the flexibility to obtain this data in multiple formats.

A database management system consists of a collection of tables, forms, reports, and queries. In a sense then, the database is a hierarchical structure under which all the files (tables, forms, reports, etc.) fall under. Look at the illustration below for an example of the hierarchical structure.

Terms and Definitions

Field
The smallest piece of data in a table.

Cell
Where one row and one column intersect on a table.

Record
A collection of all fields relating to one person, place, or thing occupying a single row of a table.

Table
A collection of records with one record occupying a single row with one or many fields per row. A database can consist of multiple tables.

Query
Ask specific questions about the data in the database.

Forms
A method of entering, displaying, and searching data in other than the spreadsheet-like environment of tables and queries.

Reports
Summarizes and formats data in the "look" that you want for either table or query data.

Object
Components that make up a database (i.e., tables, forms, queries, and reports).