It is possible to point a query at a table in a remote database that is not linked to the current database; for example this would transfer the some of the fields from a remote copy of the Northwind database into a local version of the same table.

INSERT INTO Orders ( CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate )

SELECT Orders.CustomerID, Orders.EmployeeID, Orders.OrderDate

FROM Orders IN 'C:\msoffice97\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb';