This is a two part question, with each question related to the other.

I have 3500 names in Access that I want to import into outlook,
overriding my existing contact lists so that the contact info will be
more extensive and more accurate (the access database is more up to
date). However, in outlook I also have mailing lists (committees,
vendors, etc) that are made up of subsets of the contact database. I
want to be able to send to these lists even after the import without
having to re-create the list.

1. If I import contacts from an Access Database into Outlook 2003,
will I lose my mailing lists? Are there certain settings that I will
need to use to keep the mailing lists intact, but with the updated
email addresses? What are they?

2. Is 3500 contacts too many to have in an outlook contacts list? Will
it bog down considerably when searching?

Thanks!

Please, You can export from outlook to Access, and then see the
structure necesaty for import form access to outlook.
For example in access you have to have a colmn with name categories,
with this the categories in outlook no change and add the access
categories.