Ken,

That's perfect! James Hoffmans' distillation of the SQL language 
features/syntax is just what I was looking for right now! Thank you.
 
Your recommendation regarding a good book on DB design isn't lost on me. 

The problem for myself has always been one of frustration dealing with HTML
based on-line or searchable help systems...Call me old-school, but there 
are many times I find myself getting lost through all the "drill-down" and 
hyper-linking I must do to locate what I want. 

For me, nothing beats a good book for technical material. I like writing 
in the margins, and placing post-it flags strategically. Thus, I like how 
easy it is to bookmark, navigate, annotate, and bring back salient 
information regarding the context inwhich I studied the material.

I have found no electronic paradigm that compares.

As I try some of the queries against one or two example relational 
databases, then I think I will be better able to form an opinion about a 
textbook that can help me further along my journey.

Again, my thanks.

Regards,
Sam

A well worded and more linear treatment of a subject
> Simple SQL tutorial:
> http://w3.one.net/~jhoffman/sqltut.htm
> 
> Otherwise, any book on database design (and yes, you'll need one) should
> have a chapter or two on databases.