Hi Nick,

While Access does connect to SQL Server databases, and has a few mechanisms to do so (ie https://support.office.com/en-us/article/import-or-link-to-data-in-an-sql-server-database-a5a3b4eb-57b9-45a0-b732-77bc6089b84e) we'd recommend connect via SQL Server Management Studio if you are going to be looking at the database tables or views.

If you are interested in the reporting aspects of Access also take a look at Power BI as an alternative (free from Microsoft).

However if you do need to link to SQL Server from Access then at one of the steps Access will prompt you for Unique Record Identifiers for each table, which can be a bit tedious.   The main data tables in ESdat all have an ID field which you can select as the Unique Record Identifier.  Otherwise  the Primary Key fields for each table ensure uniqueness.    

In terms of which tables you should open, just select the one you are looking to get the data from in Access.  The list of the main data tables for ESdat are given in ESdat under "Data Tables) (blue button along the top).

Regards,

Warwick