So, I am looking to convert my old Access database I have used for many years to a MySQL database, with the expectation that I will eventually publish it on a web page for public lookup.
I don't know what you're looking at for the front end of this project, but have you considered SQLite for the database engine back end? If not, you might take a look at www.sqlite.org - it's an extremely nice bit of software, if not for this project, then perhaps others.
~~ Mark Moulding