Field

A field is the smallest piece of a database; that is, one specific piece of information like a number, a word, a date, a picture, or a reference for some other piece of data. Each column you see in the diagram would all be the same data type; that is one column of data would all be numbers.

Record

A record is a collection of one or more fields together in a row. (In a real database, you would not count the word ‘Record’ like in the diagram – this is just to help visualize the concept.)

Table

A table is comprised of one or more records. Each table also has a unique name.

Database

A database is comprised of one or more tables. Each database also contains a unique name.

Form

A form is tool that is used to easily and accurately enter data into a table. A form presents one record of a database at a time to a user, or allows a user to enter data into the database one record at a time.

Query

A query is just like a question you ask the database. There are two types of queries: select and action. A select query will extract and display data based on criteria you provide. An action query will find all data relevant to your query and perform some action on it. A query can be performed on one or more tables in a database.

Report

A report presents the data found by a query. A report can be formatted to show summaries, calculations, charts, and more based on the data returned by a query. Access takes the report one step further by letting you organize and format a report into a sleek, professional document.