Question abuot creating a price quote from a long price list

Hi, I need to create a price quote frequently from a long price table. I am doing the following now:

1. Using the "Part Number" column from the price table as my (data validation) list
2. Use vlookup to get "Description", "Cost", "Type", and other data relevant to the "Part Number"

However, I have two problems/questions, I tried searching the forum but I am not sure which function I should use:

1. I can't validate a list from another worksheet or workbook
2. What's the best way to do type of data linking?

I am using Excel 2007. Thanks a lot!

Glenn