Does anyone know of some good online resources for learning microsoft access 2007? I'm trying to create some stuff for my work to make things a bit easier, but this is way different than the crap i used back in high school.

Nope.

Honestly, Microsoft has really good tutorials for Office (linked to Access 2007). Googling specific problems is always pretty good as well. Otherwise, just jump into it and start messing around...you'll get the hang of it.

I took a class on it a few years back. Still alot I didn't learn. Kinda a big beast.

Access is like... databases... but for some reason MS assumes you would want to make databases that AREN'T web-based? I dunno, I guess it might be good for personal lists or things that you want to organize, but usually Joe Average is going to just go into Excel and make a list there. AFAIK Access is a relic from the day where MS was able to convince people it was a real database application, IIRC you can make input forms and stuff in it and script stuff in VB and generate reports based on DB contents. Not that it's practical to since anyone else who wants to use your programs needs to own Access. I understand it works/worked for businesses.

I suppose it would also be good for prototyping database layouts. But Visio is really meant for the design aspect of that more.

Jon`C or somebody is probably going to tell me how wrong I am, or that I'm part right, or that I don't know what I'm talking about (I admit I'm on shaky ground here) and you should probably listen to him since I've used Access twice or so.

If you need to use Access for something, you might want to learn some basic database theory. Then you'll know what you need to do and that will make figuring out how to do it easier (I recall figuring out Access 2007 to be easy when I had to make stuff in it for Database class).

I'm actually taking a class that goes over Office 2007 Pro..we just started, though, so I'm afraid I'm not much help.

JLee: Great timing with Office 2010 beta coming up soon.

Required class, and I'm not going to postpone my degree (and resulting raise) just because something else is coming out.

I have basic experience making databases, I used one to keep track of ad sales for the newspaper back in high school. Nothing fancy, obviously, but I get the general idea.

What I'm trying to do (well, me and my roommate/coworker) is to create a simple dispatch database for our office, a parking enforcement operation. Essentially, we need a table of calls to track activity, and a table of officers to track each officer's status.
Each call would include a unique call id, the dispatcher who took the call, the date and time of the call, the reporting party and contact information, and the location and details of the call.
Each officer would have a status (busy, off duty, on break, etc.) and an assignment (mobile, on foot, special assignment, etc.)

Creating this is pretty simple, we've got the basic structure set up and functional. The only things I am trying to figure out are convenience and ease-of-use things, like having the two tables interact with each other to make sure statuses sync up, and automating date/time updates, outputting reports to a separate file (for supervisors to access) and things like that.

I think I've gotten most of it worked out, you're right, the microsoft help files for access are actually quite helpful. I also have limited programming experience, including using vb in excel a year or two ago for a class. It's just finding where to start for some of this stuff that's tough, haha.