Reviewed By: Missy Grote
Date: October 10, 2004
Section: Book Reviews
Publisher: QUE
Authors: Jim Boyce
Pages: 384
Retail Price: $18.95
Dot Journal Price: $13.26

No matter if you’re a new MS Office user or just upgrading to the latest version, QUE has published a book to help you become familiar with Microsoft Office 2003. I’m referring to the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2003 which was written by Jim Boyce. Written as if you were a beginner, you won’t have to worry about being weighted down with intense technical terms. Instead, you’ll be pleased with the clearly written explanations. As someone familiar with prior Office versions I appreciated the simplicity as well.

The book starts with a section on getting your feet wet with Office 2003. You’ll take a tour of the features and understand why traditionally Microsoft’s office suite is so popular. There will also be tips if you are upgrading from a previous version. An entire chapter is dedicated on how to use the various Office Help features such as the Microsoft Office Assistant or using the Help Menu. Never before did I know that help was only an F1 keystroke away, or that Clippit is the proper name for the Microsoft Office Assistant!

The rest of the book is what I consider the meat of the book. Here, the book is divided into 5 remaining sections which explore in greater detail Office 2003’s applications, respectively Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. In the Outlook section not only will you learn how to set up an email account and share your contact list, but you’ll also be walked through changing Outlook settings and adding a signature line. Similarly, in the PowerPoint section you’ll learn how to quickly build and present slideshows with such elements as tables, sounds, video clips or animation! Want to view it yourself without the animation… no problem!

Even though I am not an Office newbie, I found that this book had incredible value for me. When using Office applications I tend to under-use their features based on the amount of learning time I have before productivity is required. I learn just enough to be successful with my workload. By browsing through the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2003 I intstantly become aware of all the features that I am not using. I use Tables all the time, but never realized I could convert paragraph text into a table. If I was J.K. Rawlings, I’d know just how to create my own custom dictionary so words like Hogworth and ..hajdhsljdhgjdgh wouldn’t be plagued with a squiggly red line!

Instead of looking for an application-specific book, I’d recommend the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2003. Not only will you learn about how to use each Office application, but you’ll also learn how to use them together. Cohesively.

Bookmark/Search this post with:
delicious | digg | reddit | furl | technorati | icerocket