Don
Maybe I can help you with this. However, your question is wide open
and, of course, you know that. I think the starting point has to come from
you.
You say:
"My goal: consolidate where possible, offer a clean, easy to use interface
so management can "ask questions" of the databases..."
I think the key here is for you (you're the only one who can do this) to
come up with this "easy to use interface". Never mind what your overall
database (several workbooks, etc) looks like now. That can always be
modified to marry up with the user interface. The user interface can take
many forms. For instance, you could have a number of buttons with
appropriate text for the user to click on, or a UserForm could pop up with a
number of options from which to select, or the screen display could include
your own menu item in the menu across the top with a drop-down menu for the
user to select from.
But the key is going to be:
What does your database contain?
What will the user be asking for?
As to consolidation, Yes. I would recommend that you consolidate all the
workbooks into one if at all possible. If needed (your call), the workbook
could have a splash (opening) sheet with some buttons differentiating
between different facets of data. Click on one button and the workbook can
change (sheets hide and unhide as needed) to present one facet of your data.
Just some ideas. HTH Otto

"Don" wrote in message
...
I hope I'm in the right place. Please direct me else where if the is
a more appropriate forum.

Some background: I work for a hospital and keep departmental work
stats--ie # of patients treated, a database of doctors, patients,
etc. I do this all in Excel. I am self taught and I am pretty good
with it. To be sure, I went and took the MOS test in Excel and passed
the expert level test. Not tooting my own horn, just trying to give
you a feel for my ability.

Everything feels disjointed. I have several different workbooks
going. My goal: consolidate where possible, offer a clean, easy to
use interface so management can "ask questions" of the databases
easily (they are far from computer savy :)

The hospital does not have MS Access on it's machines, so I want to
maximize Excel's capabilities. How do I do that? SQL? OLAP cubes?
Web Page Access? Where do I turn and what hardware/software obstacles
do I face?

I'm more than willing to invest the time/money for research and
learning materials, but I need some real person input about what to
do.

Any suggestions you may have would be very appreciated.

Thank you,
Don