EDITORIAL
WORD PROCESSING Word processing, as a concept, has entered our vocabulary uia the advertising media. Vendors of typewriters with storage devices, such as magnetic tapes or magnetic cards, introduced the term to emphasize increased typing productivity. Word processing typewriters increased productivity, according to the vendors, by allowing the typists to indulge in power typing (i.e., typing faster with increased errors); to correct errors by merely backspacing and retyping or by waiting to the end and retyping only the incorrect letters, words, or lines; and to use the storage devices for production of routine letters from the perfect input. Well-trained typists have pride in their work and skills, and are highly motivated to produce error-free typescript expeditiously. But even a t speeds of 80 worddmin., which many typists attain with no typing errors, it is not unusual for the writer to make changes, uiz., the writer’s corrections, additions, and deletions, so that erasures, corrections, and retyping by the typist result in a net productivity of 40 worddmin. or one-half of what the typist is capable of doing. I t is a fact that word processing equipment enables a typist to correct any word, any line, any paragraph, or any page with deletions and additions without the need to retype anything that is correct and to produce a final document that is error-free. But once a writer becomes aware of this facility, he generally takes advantage of it and rewrites and rewrites with abandon until the typist begins to feel like a mother whose work is never done. Nevertheless, let us assume that the word processing equipment is employed properly and wisely and that the writer is satisfied with making only one set of changes from one proof reading. This combination can result very easily in a 50% increase in productivity over that of straight typing. The cost of word processing machines, however, is such that we have to increase productivity between 25% and 50% just to break even. Based on a 40-hour week, word processing equipment adds between $1.00 and $2.00/hr. to the typing cost, assuming of course that the machine is used constantly for the 40 hours. If the machine is used only 20 hr./ week, then the additional cost for typing is increased to $2.00 to $4.00/hr. Consequently, to obtain the maximum value from the equipment, it must be rugged enough to withstand constant use and it must be used by as many operators as necessary to keep it busy almost constantly. All equal typists are not necessarily equal on word processing equipment, and the more sophisticated the equipment is the less equal are the typists. I have seen some typists take to word processing equipment like ducks do to
water. But most typists require a rather extensive training period before the machines and the typists are economically in balance. Also some machines on the market are so poorly designed that even the best operators find it a challenge to learn how to use them profitably. We must not overlook the fact that all typing assignments are not feasible economically for word processing machines. For many assignments, the typewriter is still the better device. Word processing machines are eminently feasible for repetitive typing, such as form letters; for text subjected to extensive editing; for text that needs to be revised and updated frequently; and for text that needs to be communicated in different formats (assuming that the word processing machine is designed to do this-many are not). If a word processing machine is indicated, we are then faced with the question of which one to buy or rent. This is not an easy question to answer. There are many vendors offering many more machines than one person can evaluate. Their advertising material does a poor job in allowing a knowledgeable person to ascertain the advantages and disadvantages of the advertised machine. In general, vendors do not offer the potential buyer a try-out option, most vendors prefer to only sell the machines, and those which have rental plans require a rental contract of a t least one year. In terms of information storage and retrieval computerized systems, it is more pertinent to think of third generation word processing machines, that is, those which can operate on-line with a computer. But when you are on-line with a computer a t many dollars per hour, it is too costly to input typing on-line. It is better to have a word processing machine that can handle the typist’s input off-line, such as on a magnetic tape cassette that holds about 20 pages or more of text with the facility to correct typing errors. Then by merely signaling the computer, the cassette would be transmitted uia telephone line to the computer in one operation a t a rate of 120-200 worddmin., or even faster, for printout on a high-speed printer a t 500-1000 lines/ min. The printout is used for proofing by the typist for typing errors and by the information scientist for indicated changes, and from which the typist can type only the corrections and changes for reentry to the computer uia a text-editing program for computer processing. I have observed increased productivities exceeding 100% for typewriter-terminal input over that of tab card production and input. Although we may desire better word processing machines, there are some on the market that deserve our attention for input of information to computers. HERMAN SKOLNIK
156
Journal of Chemical Documentation,Vol.
14, No. 4, 1974
