Exam Details
Like all MOUS exams, this one is hands-on. It consists of about 30 directions that ask you to perform actions on a sample database, such as designing forms and reports, sorting and filtering records, and creating tables and queries. A typical question works like this: Access opens, and a data file loads, and a little on-screen box prompts you to perform a specific action or set of actions. You do as you're told, and then click Next to go on, or click Reset to restart the question.

The MOUS exams are graded by comparing your completed work for a given question to a solution file stored in the testing software. The closer your answer resembles that file, the more points you get. As you can imagine, the testing software required for such a scenario is fairly complex. Most testing centers have installed the test software on a reasonably fast PC, but if you happen to get a slow one, you might experience short delays between questions.

The score you receive is out of 1000 points, as with all MOUS 2000 exams. The minimum score required to pass varies with each exam; for the Access 2000 exam it is 790.

After the last question, you find out onscreen whether you passed. Before you leave the testing center, make sure they give you a printout showing your score and your percent correct for each skill category. That printout also contains a TRA number, which is your unique identifier for that test. You'll need that number if you plan to apply for a Microsoft program such as the MOUS Authorized Instructor program. Your official certificate will arrive from Microsoft in two to three weeks.

Skills Tested
There are nine skill sets covered on this exam; you'll find detailed information about them at the MOUS Web site under Exam Objectives (see link, above). They are:

• Planning and designing databases. This tests your ability to plan a database intelligently -- to determine the fields and field types to use, to decide what information should go in a table, decide what types of reports you will need to create, and so on.
• Working with Access. This tests basic program skills such as using the Help system, using the database window, printing, and navigating through records. It also covers creating new databases, both from scratch and with the Database Wizard.
• Building and modifying tables. This tests your ability to create and format tables, set field sizes and properties, and add and delete fields. You should also know how to create lookups for fields and how to add input masks.
• Building and modifying forms. Here you show your proficiency at creating forms using various methods. It includes both the Form Wizard and Design view methods, as well as adding fields and other controls to forms, formatting controls, and working with form sections such as headers and footers. You should also know how to place a calculated control on a form.
• Viewing and organizing information. This section covers a lot of objectives. You should know how to use the Office Clipboard, how to switch between views, how to view data in a subdatasheet from a linked table, and how to enter information using both datasheets and forms. You should also study up on entering and editing records, finding and replacing data, and sorting and filtering. Queries also fall under this section. You will need to be able to create queries that draw from multiple tables, add calculated fields to queries, and specify filtering criteria in a query.
• Defining relationships. This tests how well you can determine the need for relationships between tables, create those relationships, and modify/delete them. Make sure you understand the complex subject of referential integrity and the implications of the Cascade Update and Cascade Delete options.
• Producing reports. This section lets you demonstrate your proficiency in generating various types of reports, including mailing labels. You should be comfortable adding, removing, and formatting fields, adding calculated fields, and working with report sections (headers, footers, etc.) ·
• Integrating with other applications. This section covers transferring data into and out of Access. You should be able to swap data with Word tables and with Excel worksheets, and create a dynamic link between an Excel workbook sheet an an Access database. This section also covers Web skills such as creating a data access page, using the Hyperlink field type, and publishing a table or query as a Web page.
• Using Access tools. This last section is a mish-mash of features, including printing database relationships, compacting and repairing database files, and backing up/restoring a database.

There are a lot of objectives for this exam, and they cover a lot of ground. I can't think of any major program feature that isn't at least touched on here. You'll need a solid, well-rounded understanding of Access (both from a user and a developer standpoint) in order to pass.

Preparation Tools
Since this is a hands-on exam, the best way to study for it is with materials that let you actually perform the skills you'll need to demonstrate. One of the best books in this regard is Learning Access 2000 by Rick Winter (DDC Publishing). It's a classroom workbook that can be used as a self-guided course or in an instructor-led environment equally well.

You'll find that most of the really thick books on Access will go further into the program than you probably care to venture. Using Access 2000 Special Edition (Que) and Microsoft Access 2000 Bible (IDG Books) are great reference volumes, but you'll probably use only the first half of one of these books to prepare for the exam.

Tricks, Tips and Traps
I have a lot of opinions about the effectiveness of the MOUS exams in measuring a person's actual skills. See my review of the Word 2000 Core exam if you want the full-blown soliloquy. Here's the short version, though.

The very nature of these tests makes grading errors inevitable. They're taking the electronic results from a human being's performance and comparing them to the results of another human being (the person at Microsoft who developed the question). Even though the system is sophisticated enough to make some allowances for minor variation, it's not perfect. Sometimes test-takers lose points in the scoring for things that are not their fault.

A classic case of this in the Word exam is that if the directions say to select something and make it bold, and you don't deselect it before you click Next, you'll get a deduction because the answer file does not have anything selected and you do. I'm sure such annoyances exist in the Access exam too, although the administrator I talked with at the test center wasn't aware of any specifics.

So what does this mean to you? Well, for one thing, it means you had better know Access pretty well, because you can count on losing at least five to 10 points through no fault of your own due to these nit-picky little differences. You need a score of 790 to pass (out of 1000), which is higher than for most of the other MOUS exams. Luckily, Access is less prone to grading error than Word, for example, since in Access you work more with cells and objects in well-defined lists and grids. It also means that you should make as few stray changes as possible to the data file for each question. If you need to poke around and figure something out, click Reset to start the question over again and then make a beeline to the correct answer on the fresh copy.

The other key to passing this test is reading comprehension. You must read the questions very carefully, and make sure you understand what is expected of you before you dive into the question. It's all too easy to overlook a "not" in a sentence like "Select all the records in which the City field does not equal London."

This is a very thorough exam, requiring knowledge of all the major components in Access. However, that said, most of the questions are fair and straightforward, with very little tricky wording, and the test grading mechanism, while not perfect, is as good as can be expected.

Have you taken this exam? Was your experience similar to Faithe's? Post your comments below and share your experience with your peers.