can i string different fields of text (ie first name. middle name. last name) together into another field? as with the concatenate option in excell?

Hi Emma, thank you for the post, yes that can be accomplished, just as in Excel you can concatenate fields. In the query design grid select a blank field and give the field a name (label) in this case Name, follow it with a colon (:) then enter your fields, they should be enclosed in square brackets [] if your fields are coming from different tables, the table name must be inserted with the period (.) separating ie [TableName.FieldName] any text or characters that you wish to insert should be outside the square brackets and enclosed with quotation marks (") the concatenation symbol is the ampersand (&) so finally your field should be like this: Name:[TableName.FieldName]&" "&[Tablename.FieldName] where a space between first and second names is enclosed in the " " marks. I hope that helps, best regards Pete.