Choosing the Fields in Your Data Source

In this part of the mail merge process, you tell Word which document you want to use as your data source. You can either create a new data source or open an existing one.

The key step in creating a new data source is telling Word which fields you want to use. Typical fields are first name, last name , company, address, city, state, ZIP code, and so on. Include a field for any piece of information that you might want to use in your main document. For example, if you want to refer to the recipient's job title in your form letters , be sure to include a job title field. (When you are entering your records, as described in the next section, you can always leave a field blank if you don't have that piece of data for a particular recipient.)

You can store other types of information in your data source than people's names and addresses. In the example used in this hour , a field called Customer Since is created to store the year that the customer first did business with the store. You can use merge fields anywhere you like in your main document. The Customer Since field will be used in the body of the letter to personalize it.

If you already have a data source you want to use, mark Use an Existing List instead of Type a New List in step 1 of the following steps and click the Browse link to display the Select Data Source dialog box (see Figure 14.3). If your data source is in a file format other than an Access database ( .mdb ) file, be sure that All Data Sources is selected in the Files of Type drop-down list. Locate and select your data sourcethere is a good chance it will be stored in the My Data Sources folder, which is Word's default location for data sourcesand then click the Open button. You can then skip the remainder of these steps and the next section, "Entering Records and Saving Your Data Source," and go directly to "Sorting and Editing the Data Source."

Figure 14.3. Use the Select Data Source dialog box to select an existing data source.

The My Data Sources folder also contains some specialized tools for connecting to other types of data sources. Your network administrator may ask you to use one of them to access your data source.

Follow these steps to create your data source and specify the fields you want to use:

1. In step 3 of the wizard (Select Recipients), mark the Type a New List option button (see Figure 14.4).

   Figure 14.4. Choose Type a New List to start a new data source.

   

2. Click Create to display the New Address List dialog box (see Figure 14.5).

   Figure 14.5. The New Address List dialog box provides a form for entering addresses in your new data source.

   

3. Each line represents a field. To add or remove fields, click the Customize button.

4. In the Customize Address List dialog box that appears (see Figure 14.6), delete any fields you won't use by selecting them one by one, clicking the Delete button, and clicking Yes to confirm the deletion.

   Figure 14.6. The Customize Address List dialog box lets you specify the exact fields you want to use.

   

   

   If your mailing list contains a lot of addresses with building or department names, suite numbers , and so on, keep the Address2 field to use for this information.

   
   

5. To add a field you'd like to use, click the Add button.

6. In the Add Field dialog box that appears, type a name for your field and click the OK button (see Figure 14.7). In this example, Customer Since is added as a new field.

   Figure 14.7. You can add as many fields as you like to your data source.

   

7. To change the order of the fields as they appear in the New Address List dialog box, click the field you want to move and then click the Move Up or Move Down button.

8. When you are done customizing your fields, click OK , and then continue with the next section. In Figure 14.8, several fields have been removed, and the Customer Since field has been added.

   Figure 14.8. When your list of fields is customized to your liking, continue with the mail merge process. Continue this process by entering records for the data source in the section that follows .