# Recommend books about Excel, Access **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-about-excel-access/420052 "2007-09-21T23:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-about-excel-access/420052/1 "2007-09-21T23:49:59Z")
I started a new job today, and quickly discovered I’ll need more facility with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access than I have now. I’ve used both, but I’m rusty. I last built a (small) Access database in 1998. And while I recently used Excel in a statistics class, now I need to master other parts of it besides statistics. So I could use books or websites that will stand in for the classes (beginning through advanced) that I don’t have time to take. What are your favorites? I’m on a PC (Windows XP) running Office 2003, if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance, E. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@GorillaGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaGirl)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-about-excel-access/420052/2 "2007-09-22T02:24:05Z")
I always recommend the Dummies books - [Excel 2003 for Dummies](http://www.amazon.com/Excel-2003-Dummies-Greg-Harvey/dp/0764537563/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190422540&sr=8-1) and [Access 2003 for Dummies](http://www.amazon.com/Access-2003-Dummies-John-Kaufeld/dp/0764538810/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190422704&sr=8-1) - as either an introduction or quick refresher course. If that’s too basic, I like either the Wiley series - [Excel 2003 Bible](http://www.amazon.com/Excel-2003-Bible-John-Walkenbach/dp/0764539671/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&qid=1190422781&sr=8-5) and [Access 2003 Bible](http://www.amazon.com/Access-2003-Bible-Cary-Prague/dp/0764539868/ref=sr_1_5/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190422781&sr=8-5) - or the Que series - [Using Excel 2003](http://www.amazon.com/Special-Using-Microsoft-Office-Excel/dp/0789729539/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&qid=1190423014&sr=8-1) and [Using Access 2003](http://www.amazon.com/Special-Using-Microsoft-Office-Access/dp/0789729520/ref=sr_1_1/103-9376032-4545435?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190423014&sr=8-1). I’ve used all of these (well, the '97 or 2000 versions) to go from zero-to-temp-to-employee using Access in my current job and to teach myself about the advanced features in Excel. I like Que better than Wiley, but YMMV. Another good resource is the Utter Access Discussion Forums. Obviously, the focus is Access, but there’s a lot of useful stuff for Excel and other Office apps, as well as VBA and meta-info like database design and table normalization. I don’t think of myself as any kind of Access or Excel expert, but if you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them. Good luck!