Using the Address Book

The Address Book is basically a launch pad that allows you to access information lists (they are all considered address books) that contain e-mail addresses and other contact information. Because you create your own Contacts list, you always have this resource available, even if you aren't connected to a special network server and you access your e-mail by connecting to the Internet. You can find more information about building your Contacts list in Lesson 11, "Creating a Contacts List."

As already mentioned, Outlook also has the capability to access a number of different address lists. If Outlook is used as a mail client for the Microsoft Exchange Server mail system, Outlook will be able to access distribution lists as well as the entire Exchange Server e-mail catalog.

You can open the Address Book feature by clicking the To button or Cc button on a new message or by clicking the Address Book icon on the Outlook toolbar. After the Address Book dialog box is open (see Figure 10.1), you can use the Show Names from the drop-down list to select the specific address book (such as your Outlook Address Book or Contacts list) that you want to view.

Figure 10.1. The Address Book provides access to your various e-mail address and contacts lists.

Finding Records in an Address Book

The Address Book dialog box also makes it easy for you to search through a particular address book for a particular person. In the Type Name box, begin to type the name of a contact you want to find in the list; as soon as you type enough of the contact's name for Outlook to find that particular contact, it will be highlighted in the list provided.

For cases where you want to search for a record or records by a particular character string (such as all records in the address book that have the last name of Smith), the Address Book provides you with a Find dialog box.

Click the Find Items button on the Address Book toolbar. The Find dialog box appears as shown in Figure 10.2.

Figure 10.2. You can search a particular address book by keywords or text strings using the Find dialog box.

Type your search string into the Find Names Containing box. Then, click OK to run the search. The search results appear in the Address Book dialog box. Only the records that match your search parameters appear in the list.

Adding Records to an Address Book

You can also add records to any of the address books that you have access to. For example, you can add records to your Personal Address book or to your Contacts list directly in the Address Book window. Keep in mind that in a corporate environment, your network administrator probably controls some address books, such as the Global Address Book. This means that you won't be able to add information to these address books; you can use them only as resources to find information such as e-mail addresses.

To add a record to an address book that you do control:

1. In the Address Book dialog box, make sure that you have the address book selected that you want to add the new record to.

2. Click the New Entry button on the Address Book toolbar. The New Entry dialog box appears (see Figure 10.3).

   Figure 10.3. You can add new records to address books using the New Entry dialog box.

   

3. Use the Put This Entry In the drop-down box at the bottom of the New Entry dialog box to make sure that your new record ends up in the correct address book. To add a new record (a new contact, for example), click New Contact and then click OK .

   

   Distribution List A distribution list allows you to create a record that includes the e-mail addresses for several people. This makes it easy to send e- mails to a group of people. You can create distribution lists in the New Entry dialog box. You will learn how to create distribution lists in the next lesson.

   
   

4. A blank record appears for your new entry. Enter the appropriate information for the new record, such as the person's name, e-mail address, and so on into the appropriate text boxes. When you have finished entering the information, click OK to save the new entry. In the case of new contacts added to the Contacts list, click the Save and Close button.

The blank records that open for your new entries look slightly different, depending on the address book in which you are creating the new record. In the case of new contacts (which is discussed in the next chapter), you can enter information for the new entry that includes the person's address, phone number, fax number, and even a Web page address. Some address books may allow you to enter only the name and e-mail address of the person.

Create a New Message from the Address Book Dialog Box If you opened the Address Book using the Address Book icon on the Outlook toolbar (or selected Tools , Address Book ), you can open a new message for any of the contacts listed in one of the address books. Select the particular person, and then click the New Message icon on the Address Book icon. A new message opens addressed to that particular person.