Word 97 MailMerge Overview

University of North Texas Computer Advantage Program

Advanced Word 97 - MailMerge It Together

Word 97 – Merge Overview	With Word, you can personalize form letters, print addresses on envelopes and mailing labels, assemble legal documents, and produce catalogs from the same list of individuals, or from several different sets of individuals. Preparing any type of merged document – for example, a form letter -- typically involves merging two documents: a main document and a data source. Back to Mailmerge Table of Contents
Main Document + Data Source = New Documents	The main document contains the text and other items you want to be identical in each version of the merged document. The data source contains the information that varies in each version, such as the names and addresses of each recipient of a form letter. You insert special instructions, called merge fields, into the main document to instruct Word where to print the variable information from the data source. When you merge the data source and the main document, Word replaces merge fields in the main document with the appropriate information from the data source. Back to Mailmerge Table of Contents
Tips on Planning a Data Source	Allow enough data fields for the data records with the most information. Some clients on a mailing list might have more address information than others -- for example, a business name, a department title, and up to three lines for the address. In a data source, however, all the data records must have the same number of data fields. If a data record doesn't have a particular category of information, leave the field blank for that record. Information you want to sort by -- for example, city, state, postal code, or addressee's last name -- must be in a separate data field. To speed mail delivery in the United States, set up addresses to display postal bar codes. The addressee's ZIP Code and delivery address -- such as a street name and number or a post office box -- must be in separate data fields. Organize data so that you can use it in different ways. For example, when you set up a data source to print form letters, plan the address information so that you can use the same data source to print either mailing labels or envelopes. By placing the title, first name, and last name in separate fields, you can use the same field to print the last name in both the address (Mr. Gerard LaSalle) and the salutation (Dear Mr. LaSalle). Back to Mailmerge Table of Contents
*Tools – Mailmerge*	Open the document on your Drive A, located in the MSFILES folder, the WORD subfolder, the filename of MacClinton Letter.DOC. If you do not have this letter on a disk, the text for the letter is as follows: Dear : I want to thank you so much for writing about my eating habits. It is always exciting to hear from my constituents, especially after working so hard for your approval. I like my MacDonalds hamburgers and fries. It is my way of a reward system after all that jogging. Let me continue to hear from you regarding how I’m doing and any ideas you may have for my performance improvement. Sincerely, Mr. Bill MacClinton President To use this letter as your form letter, with the letter on the screen, select the TOOLS menu, MailMerge. Option. The MAILMERGE HELPER screen appears. MailMerge Helper provides a wonderful tool to set up a form letter or mailing label, the data source, and merge the information together. It has never been easier.

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