If you are interested in trying this with Access 97, go to Introducing Access 97 at the Village Lab in Rio Linda.

Note: It's important to realize that most functions in AppleWorks are "object oriented". That means that you make things happen by pushing buttons in tool bars. The novice must remember the first law of Technodynamics: For every action, there is an equal but opposite undo action. Use Command Z whenever you need it. Your intuitive gifts will come alive when using AppleWorks. Enjoy the fact that you have these gifts and thank modern software developers for being so perceptive as to recognize that people think this way.

• Open AppleWorks. When the New Document window opens, double click on Database and you are in the AppleWorks database application. If AppleWorks is already open, select "File" => "New" to get to the New Document window.
• At this point you can really only do two things. You can define fields or you can say you're done. Let's define some fields in a simple database that organizes our music collection. Since we all like music (I'm making an assumption here) our first data base will be one that organizes our DVD, CD, cassette, eight track or vinyl record collections. Some of us probably even know what an eight track tape is. We'll be done in a few minutes.

Warning: Pocket protectors and propeller caps may be necessary as you proceed with this lesson.

• In the Define Database Fields window, the cursor is patiently (patient cursor is a good compressed conflict) waiting for you to enter something in the "Field Name" box. Enter Artist(s) and press Create (or hit return or enter).

• The "Field Name" box turns color and above it you see your first field name. Field names are simply categories that can contain data. You'll see what I mean in a few minutes.

• Since the "Field Name" box is already selected, you may type something new immediately. Enter Titles and press Create.
• You see your second category listed in the window. Cool, eh?

• Let's save this puppy before the whole system crashes. You know that happens.
• Go ahead and press "Done" now.
• Saving is easy. Go to "File" => "Save As..." and browse to where you want to save. You should probably make a new folder in your personal folder on the server just for databases. Give your file a name: Music Collection is a good name for this, don't you think?
• Now let's do some fancy things before this gets positively boring.

The next field we're going to add is "Formats" because we want to keep track of DVD, CD, Eight Track, Cassette, or Vinyl formats. We're going to make some really cool pop-up menus. I'll bet you just can't wait.

• Because you stopped to save your file, you are now in a layout that allows you to browse all your records. Since you haven't got any records, you can't do this. Let's add some more fields.
• Go to Layout in the Menu Bar, click on it and select "Define Fields" or Shift + Command D. This gets you back to the "Define Database Fields" window.

• Enter Formats in the "Field Name" box but don't press return just yet. To the right of the "Field Name" box you will see "Field type:" and a box with the word "Text" in it. Click on the little downward arrow next to "Text" and select "Popup Menu" from the choices. After selecting "Popup Menu" you can press return.
• A new window opens that allows you to enter the specific music formats you have now or will have in the future.

• Enter DVD and press return.
• Enter CD and press return.
• Enter Cassette and press return.
• Enter Eight Track and press return.
• Enter Vinyl (If you have reel-to-reel, go for it!)
• When you're finished, press OK. Then press done.

• Entering data is the easy part. It's just like word processing. You enter words and numbers.
• The default Layout for data entry is Browse mode. This is the format we used in class to enter our e-mail addresses in the database. Another option is List mode. Go to "Layout" in the menu bar and select "List" from the first four choices you are given. This is an easy way to enter data. Click in the "Artists" box and enter an artist or group. Press Tab or click in the "Titles" box and enter a title. Press Tab or click on the "Formats" box and you'll get the menu you created a few minutes ago. Select the format that fits your record.
• At this point, pressing Tab or Return doesn't seem to get you very far. That's because you now have a record of one piece of music in your collection. To add another record, go to "Edit" => "New Record" or Command R.
• Use your intuition to figure out how you can enter data. Play with this until you can't remember anything else about your music collection.
• Save your work often with Command S.
• To make your columns wider, move the cursor over the line that divides the categories (field names) until you see the crosshair cursor. Click and drag until the column is just the right size. You can also move columns around. More on that later.
• Once you're done, save again and see if you can figure out how to sort your new database.

Databases take additional preparation. If you think about fields as categories, you'll be taking a quantum leap. When you use these categories with children, you can think about the same categories as concepts. Your objectives are to help children develop concepts and apply new knowledge. In the next few sessions, you will see how this is done.