Mail Merge Abstract

This set of documents covers the step by step details of performing a mail merge. The programs used for the merge are MS Word 97 and MS Excel 97. Many examples and figures are included to show exactly what is being done.

There is one main document and four auxiliary documents. These are:

Creating Mailing Labels in MS Word From Data in MS Excel
Creating a Merge Document in MS Word
Creating a Simple Database in MS Excel
Navigation and Selection Shortcut Keys
Setting the Data Source

The original reason to create this documentation was to assist an organization better utilize its existing address database. Generally, I do not recommend creating a database in MS Excel. There are many excellent database programs available with much more power and flexibility. However, if one already has MS Excel and the database design is not relational, MS Excel may be a good program to set up the database.

A Better Way

Databases are best created using knowledge and decent software. For Windows, MS Access generally performs well. Apple users will probably consider Filemaker.

These are generally sufficient for single users and may be OK for up to a few users. However, if many simulanteous users are expected to utilize a database then a more powerful database server solution must be considered.

Creation of database solutions does take expertise to ensure usability and integraty of data. Consider outsourcing all but the most basic database applications.

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