WORD PROCESSING GENERALLY INCLUDES THE TOTAL TYPING PROCESS FROM THE RECEIPT OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL THROUGH THE RETURN OF COMPLETED COPY. A WORD PROCESSING INSTALLATION CENTER USUALLY CONNOTES THE EXISTENCE OF A SPECIALIZED ORGANIZATION TYPING POOL OR CENTER INPUT BY DICTATION ON MAGNETIC MEDIA, AND USE OF AUTOMATED TYPING EQUIPMENT. THE SPECIAL APPLICATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES OF WORD PROCESSING INCLUDE ABILITY TO MINIMIZE RETYPING AND PROOFREADING, MAKE MINOR CHANGES IN STANDARD FORMS, AND SORT AND RETRIEVE CERTAIN STORED RECORDS. A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS QUALITATIVELY COMPARING WORD PROCESSING AND CONVENTIONAL TYPEWRITING OPERATIONS AS TO SALARIES AND EQUIPMENT REVEALS THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FORMER, AN EFFICIENCY THAT CAN BE ENHANCED BY THE BEST PLACEMENT OF EQUIPMENT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF WORK LOAD, LOGISTICS, OPERATOR TRAINING, AND BACKUP. THE INITIAL APPLICATION OF WORD PROCESSING IN THE SEATTLE DEPARTMENT WAS IN 1977. A 1978 DEPARTMENT-WIDE SURVEY REVEALED THAT PERSONNEL BELEIVED WORD PROCESSING TO BE BENEFICIAL TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE, INSPECTIONS AND PLANNING, TRAINING, AND RECORDS DIVISIONS WHERE WORK BEING TYPED CALLED FOR FREQUENT REVISION OR EDITING. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT WORD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT APPLICATIONS WILL CONTINUE TO BE USED TO INCREASE DEPARTMENT PRODUCTIVITY. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (AOP)