When you have specific questions about certain formulas or features in Excel, use Excel's help system. The more you learn to use Microsoft's help systems, the more productive you will become with ALL of their software tools, especially the Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.).

I thought I was an expert in Excel until I bought my first book and actually read it.

Learn From the Experts! For a program as versatile and powerful as Excel, you will want a good reference book - one that you can write in, highlight, and become familiar with.

John Walkenbach's books are the best! They are available at most major bookstores. I would suggest either the Excel 200X Formulas or Excel 200X Bible. You can usually find the books at a discount on Amazon.com:

• Microsoft Excel 2002 Formulas
• Microsoft Excel 2000 Formulas

There are countless websites on using Excel. The really nice thing about Excel is that it is a very popular tool in academics. That is good for YOU because there are a lot of tutorials available for FREE. A great way to find what you want is to simply use a specific search on Google.com.

If you want a tutorial to learn the basics of Excel, search for "Excel Basics Tutorial". If you want details on advanced topics, such as creating Excel web queries, search for "Excel web queries". You get the picture, right?

Search on Google

If you don't mind asking your questions in public, you might also want to try asking your Excel question in one of the active forums:

• MrExcel.com
• ExcelForum.com

If you have followed each of these steps and still have a question, then you may contact us via the form on this page. If your question is not related to one of Vertex42's products, please visit one of the forums mentioned above.